Deteriorate
by TheLovelyRusher
Summary: Carlos has alot to celebrate; His 18th bday, BTR's 2nd album, and the world tour they were about to embark on. But than, out of the blue he gets frighteningly ill and loses his most basic functions. Can BTR save him before he deteriorates completely?
1. The Birthday Bash

**A/N Hey everybody! I'm so excited right now! I have been planning this story for literally MONTHS. It's a Carlos whump/angst and it kind of goes in fashion with Mystery of You. Whenever I first joined this fandom, I had planned on doing a mystery illness fic for each one of the boys, it's just taken me a really long time do so. But here's the next fic in my little "series" I guess you could say! This time, though, Carlos' illness is MUCH more complicated and difficult, so I have been doing endless research. Hopefully I get as much facts as I can right! But this story is like, my favorite one and really close to my heart so I REALLY hope you all enjoy it, and I have it all mapped out and planned for finishing, (I know I have a terrible habit of being ADHD and flighty and not finishing stories. I'm sorry… They will all be finished one day teehee)**

**So, without further ado, here is chapter one of "Deteriorate." Please enjoy **

"_Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Carlos, Happy Birthday to you!"_

A smile twitched upon Carlos' peaceful face as James' words floated into the sleeping boy's dreams. James grinned at this and sang the song again, this time succeeding in waking his best friend from his slumber.

"James?" Carlos groaned, smiling at the pleasant alarm James had given him. The small Latino scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, rubbing the groggy feeling away. It was his birthday today! He was ready to be hyper and crazy and eat food and cake with his friends all day.

"Happy Birthday buddy!" James yelled out with enthusiasm. He flung his arms around the small boy's body and squeezed, lifting him easily into the air. "How old are you today? 14, 15?" James teased. He loved poking fun at Carlos for looking way younger than he really was. Besides the fact that Carlos was only 5 feet, 5 inches inches tall, his rosy, chubby cheeks and innocent features made him look much younger than he really was. James found it all too endearing.

"I'm 18!" Carlos said, rolling his eyes. He had been teased by James his whole life for "never growing up." He rolled out of James' arms, stood up, and brushed himself off. "When's the party, James? There's going to be a party, right?"

"Duh!" James said, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "Pool party this afternoon, and yours truly will be doing the bbq'n."

Carlos grinned with excitement. He loved parties, especially birthday parties, and since they only came once a year, they only made him even giddier.

"Hop on little bro!" James said, patting his own back. "Logan is making birthday pancakes!"

"Oh yes!" Carlos exclaimed, his mouth watering with the thought of Logan's famous birthday pancakes slathered in syrup. He had to stand on top of his bed so he could attach himself to James' back, since the brunette was so much taller than him, and James carried him to the kitchen.

"Hey James, do you think maybe now that I'm 18 I might grow a little bit?" Carlos wondered.

"I don't know," James said, hoisting Carlos higher up on his back when he started to slide down. Carlos wrapped his legs around his waist and hugged his neck tightly, making James smile. "I kind of like that you're little, anyway. Oh darlin' don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up just stay this little!" James suddenly belted, making Carlos blush.

"I have to grow up someday James," Carlos said. "I can't be tiny forever."

"Sure you can!" James said. "You're Carlitos, the baby of the brothers of the ice. You're just not meant to grow anymore, buddy."

Carlos pouted at this, but only for a moment. His bubbliness was back when he saw Logan cooking up chocolate pancakes, and Kendall sitting at the table with some presents piled up.

"Pancakes! Presents!" Carlos cried out, not sure where to start first. He slid off of James' back and looked from Logan to Kendall, conflicted.

"Hey Carlos, Happy Birthday!" Kendall said, getting up from the table to give his little buddy a huge hug.

"Thanks Kendall!" Carlos said. He ran to Logan next, who laughed and gave him a bear hug.

"Good morning Carlos, Happy Birthday!" Logan said. "Pancakes will be ready in a minute, go open your presents!'

Carlos made an odd sound of happiness and punched the air. He ran to the table and tore open the first present he saw.

"That one's from all of us," Kendall said, watching Carlos brown eyes light up with joy.

"Whoa! This is the skateboard I've been wanting!" Carlos cried out, holding up the green and black board for his friends to see, even though they were the ones who bought it for him.

"Whoa, pretty cool Carlos!" James said, nodding.

"Me and helmet love it!" Carlos said. He dug into the rest of his presents, which were violent video games and clothes he had been wanting.

After opening presents, Carlos shoveled 7 pancakes into his mouth greedily, savoring the melty chocolate chips that Logan had put in them.

"Can I have some more?" Carlos asked, barely finished chewing the pancake he already had in his mouth.

"Nope, I'm cutting you off," Logan said. "You'll get a stomachache. Besides, James is going to be cooking up burgers in a few hours and you want to be hungry for those."

"Ok," Carlos said. "I'm going to go get dressed and practice some tricks on my new skateboard!"

"Be careful," Logan warned. "You don't want to break anything on your birthday. And don't forget helmet!" Logan added, wondering why he even bothered to remind Carlos to wear something that was constantly on his head anyway. But sometimes Carlos had a habit of being weird and _not _wearing his helmet when he needed it most.

After Carlos showered, spiked his hair, and dressed in his new birthday outfit, which was a red checkered shirt and dark wash blue jeans, he headed down to the park to show off his new skateboard and perform some tricks for his friends while Kendall, James and Logan decorated the pool deck for their best friend's very special day.

A few hours later, when everything was decorated, Logan went down to the park to go pick up Carlos and tell him the party was set to start in a few minutes. He was pretty impressed to find Carlos doing all kinds of ollies and small tricks on his new board.

"Hey Carlos, you're getting really good at that," Logan said after a few minutes of watching his friend skate back and forth.

Carlos turned around and grinned shyly. "Thanks, Logan! Want to watch me do a trick?"

"Sure, watcha got?" Logan said, sitting on a bench to watch the show.

"I'm going to grind that rail," Carlos said, pointing to a concrete staircase about 20 feet away. It was only 5 steps, but still, it looked too dangerous for Logan's liking.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Logan said, eyeing the rail warily. If Carlos wiped out, he could cause some serious damage.

"Don't worry, I've done it like, 10 times already today!" Carlos said. "This board rocks! It's way faster than my old one. Thanks Logan!"

"You're welcome buddy, but I just don't know about grinding rails," Logan said.

"It'll be fine, just watch!" Carlos said. Logan sighed when Carlos ignored his protests and started skating off towards the railing.

Logan gripped the green park bench and gritted his teeth as Carlos hopped onto the rail. A surge of panic went through him as Carlos slid down the rail. He braced himself to go running to help Carlos for the bad landing that he feared might happen.

Carlos' board came to the end of the rail at lightning speed and he flew into the air. Logan yelled out his name on reflex as he imagined his friend crashing to the ground. Logan shut his eyes tight, refusing to watch an accident happen.

"Logan! Logan!" Carlos cried. Logan cringed, preparing himself to hear cries and wails of pain. But instead, Carlos sounded… Happy?

"Logie, did you see me?" Carlos asked.

Logan opened his eyes to see Carlos had landed perfectly on his board, on 2 feet and not his face, and was now dancing around happily. Logan let out a sigh of relief and grinned.

"Wow, Carlos that was really good!" Logan praised, still feeling kind of shaky from watching his friend dart down a railing like that. He had seen enough reality shows to know bad things happened to skaters, but Carlos' skill and balance was amazing.

"Why did you get so worried?" Carlos asked as they walked back to the apartment.

"You know I'm a worry wart Carlos," Logan said. Carlos nodded, barely hearing him. He was too distracted by the already huge gathering by the pool, with balloons and a huge banner saying "Happy Birthday Carlos!" and not to mention lots of food, and the firepit going.

"Logan it's awesome!" Carlos said, completely breathless as he was engulfed by hugs and pats on the backs while a swarm of friends wished him Happy Birthday.

The next couple of hours went by quickly, spent swimming and goofing off and playing pool games. Music blared off the speakers, while Mr. Bitter's hid in absolute misery. Carlos was actually pretty sure that someone had to have kidnapped him and tied him up to allow such a party, not that Carlos was complaining. It was the best Birthday Party he ever had. Even the Jennifer's had shown up and planted kisses to his cheek as a present.

"James, are the burgers ready yet?" Carlos asked, bounding over to where his best friend stood at the BBQ, cooking up hamburgers. All of that swimming and mingling had made him starving.

"Almost, about 10 more minutes," James said, flipping the burgers. "They aren't quite well done yet,"

"I don't even care," Carlos said dramatically. "I am so _hungry_."

James rolled his eyes and tried to find the most done burger on the grill. "Ok, ok. Here you go Carlos," James said, plating up a burger and handing it to Carlos, who dug right in and went to the table of chips and salads to fill up his plate even more. James shook his head. He had never met anyone who was able to eat quite as much as Carlos could.

A few minutes later, everyone was seated around the pool eating burgers. Logan chuckled at Carlos, who was sitting next to him and still stuffing his face with all the goodies his friends had made.

"Dude you're gonna get sick," Logan warned. Carlos snorted.

"Quit being a worrywart, Logan!" Carlos teased, his mouth full of jello salad. Logan elbowed him in the ribs lightly at his remark.

After everyone was finished eating and evening drew in, Guitar Dude suggested a firepit jam. Carlos sat in the middle of the bench around the fire, sandwiched between Kendall and James. He curled his legs up under him and settled against the cushions, watching the sunset as his dozens of friend's belt out lyrics to their songs. Pinks and oranges swirled in with majestic purple hues in the sky as his friend's voices rang through the light breeze.

Carlos hugged his knees to his chest and sighed with contentment. He had never been happier in his life. He felt so… Loved. It was the greatest feeling he had ever known.

As soon as the sun was as low as it could go and the sky was dark, dusky twilight, everybody started clapping. Carlos twisted around in his seat to see what everyone was cheering for, and he saw Logan emerge from the lobby with a large chocolate birthday cake, covered in white frosting and sweet words and 19 tall, flickering candles (One extra candle being for good luck.)

Carlos stood up and felt his cheeks heat up as Logan sat the cake on a table and the crowd erupted into a very tone-deaf styling of "Happy Birthday."

"Happy Birthday Carlos," James whispered when the song was finished, giving his buddy a one armed hug. "Make a wish."

Carlos thought for a moment, wondering what in the world he could possibly need to wish for when everything was already so perfect. He looked around, puffing his cheek out. The young Latino was stumped.

"Make a wish already!" James said giddily, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

Carlos chuckled, deciding on the perfect wish. He took in a deep breath as everyone watched him expectantly, but right when he let out the burst of air, a strange pain resonated through his stomach, making him cringe. The puff of air was weak and hardly enough to blow out even half of the candles that were nearly halfway melted by now.

But as quickly as it came, the pain vanished. Carlos was confused, but decided to think nothing of it. Maybe he just took too large of a breath? Again, Carlos filled his cheeks with air and blew as hard as he could. The candles snuffed out with a "poof" and everyone started cheering wildly.

While Logan set to work on cutting the cake, Kendall started handing out small flute glasses filled with sparkling red grape juice, Carlos' favorite.

"I would like to purpose a toast, to my buddy!" Kendall said in a mock drunken slur, stumbling over to Carlos and draping a floppy arm across the smaller boy's shoulders. "Who is 18 years old today and still retaining every ounce of adorableness that we love him for." Kendall squeezed Carlos' cheek teasingly and smirked. "But really, this is one of the coolest guys I have ever known. He's crazy and amazing and I couldn't imagine life without my little buddy."

"Hear, hear!" James shouted, raising his glass. The crowd of Carlos' friends repeated James' words and held up their glasses as well.

"To Carlos, our best friend, and our little brother," Logan said fondly.

Just as everyone was about to clink glasses with the person next to them, Carlos interrupted them.

"Hold on, hold on," Carlos said, sticking his hand up like a school child. "Can I add something?"

"Go ahead buddy!" Logan said, and everyone turned their attention to the birthday boy. Carlos blushed, feeling shy under the smiles of his friends, who gave him their undivided attention. He cleared his throat nervously and started to speak.

"I just wanted to make this toast for something else, too. For my best friends Logan, Kendall and James, who aren't just my best friends, but my band mates, also. We get to experience something amazing called a world tour, and we leave next week, and I am still trying to wrap my mind around that. So I want to toast to our second album, our world tour, and Big Time Rush. I don't know what I would do without you guys. Cheers!"

"Cheers," Kendall whispered, giving Carlos a smile. He felt like he could tear up. The grin on Carlos' face was something that would be etched in his mind forever.

"Cheers!" Everyone shouted over Kendall, and the cool night air was filled with the sounds of clinking glasses. Carlos brought the glass to his lips and tilted his head back, swallowing the bubbly pink liquid. It felt cool and refreshing on his throat, but as soon as the cider hit his stomach, he was hit with a burst of nausea.

Carlos clutched his stomach and frowned at the sick feeling. He sat back down on the bench, feeling a bit weak. He looked around to make sure nobody noticed his sudden ailment, but the teenagers were engrossed in picking out slices of cake and thankfully did not see what was happening.

"And the biggest slice for Carlitos!" Logan said, turning around and presenting Carlos a particularly large slice of cake with several of those yummy frosting flowers that were his favorite.

"Thanks," Carlos said with lack-luster, and Logan noticed the sour look upon his soft features. The excited grin was wiped completely off his face.

"You ok?" Logan asked, wondering what could have upset his little friend so quickly.

"Mmhmm," Carlos answered, but Logan was worried when he set his piece of cake beside him untouched.

Logan sat next to Carlos and placed a hand on his back. "You don't want your cake?"

Carlos shook his head. "Maybe later, Logie. My… My tummy hurts all of a sudden." Carlos looked up at Logan sadly, and the brunette pouted in sympathy.

"You probably ate way too much, 'Litos. I knew that would happen. Just take it easy for a bit and you will be fine. No more eating."

Carlos exhaled and put a hand on his stomach. "I don't plan on it."

Logan offered Carlos a smile and squeezed his knee. "Let's play some games to get your mind off the tummyache," he offered, and Carlos nodded.

For the next hour, the large group of kids jammed out and played games and chatted. Carlos' stomachache did not get any better, though. The pain was only getting worse, and it seemed to be moving lower and lower.

"Is your stomach still bugging you buddy?" Logan asked, noticing that Carlos was not participating in the party at all anymore. In fact, he had not moved from the pillows lining the bench. He stared blankly at the fire, eyes glassy and arm wrapped around his middle. Logan felt terrible for Carlos. He couldn't even enjoy his own birthday party.

"Yeah, it hurts," Carlos whimpered with pain evident in his voice. His stomach cramped up and the boy groaned in misery. "Ah, ow. It hurts, Logan."

Logan was starting to worry that maybe Carlos' ailment wasn't just because he ate too much. He was starting to look pale and get the sweats, which wasn't normal. He feared that he was actually sick and not full.

"Come on Carlos let's go up to your room for a few minutes," Logan suggested, taking the smaller boy by his arm and pulling him to his feet.

"Why?" Carlos asked, sounding like a small child. He sniffled and looked around at his bustling, loud party sadly. "I don't want to Logan."

"I know buddy but I don't want you to throw up in front of your friends. The party will be going on for a few more hours. You'll feel better if you try to go to the bathroom and lie down for a bit."

Carlos nodded, his shoulders sagging forward. He didn't want to leave his party, but he knew Logan was right, and throwing up for everyone to see would not be very fun.

"Bye everyone," Carlos whispered, following behind Logan.

"Hey, where you guys going?" James asked, intercepting Logan when he saw him leading Carlos, who was hunched over and walking very slowly, towards the lobby. "'Litos are you ok?"

Carlos shook his head "no," and rubbed his stomach. "I don't feel very good."

James frowned and took Carlos into a gentle hug. "Oh no what happened?" He asked, looking to Logan for the answer because Carlos was too busy whimpering and moaning into his shirt to speak.

"He said his stomach hurts," Logan explained. "I thought at first it might be because he ate too much, but he seems to be in a lot of pain and it almost looks like he's running a fever, doesn't it?"

"He does feel warm," James commented, feeling a small amount of heat radiating off of Carlos' face and onto his chest. He rubbed Carlos' arms. The flesh was a bit heated. "You don't think he's sick, do you? Not on his birthday…" James felt instantly bad for Carlos. What a horrible way to spend a birthday.

"I don't know," Logan said somberly, gathering Carlos and putting an arm around him. "I'm going to take him upstairs now, let Kendall know what's going on. We'll be back in about an hour, I hope."

Carlos was unusually quiet on the way to the apartment. When they rode up the elevator, he paled and cringed, grabbing at the railings when intense vertigo washed over him. He was afraid he might even puke then and there.

"Logan I don't want to throw up," Carlos admitted as Logan opened the front door and escorted him inside their warm home.

"Well if it happens, it happens," Logan said. He brought Carlos to his room and laid him down on his fluffy comforter. Carlos curled up on his side into a tiny ball, his arms wrapped tightly around his middle.

"I am so sorry this is happening," Logan said, sitting beside his friend and feeling his forehead, which was definitely warm enough for a fever. "I think you have a temperature, I'll be right back." Logan fetched a thermometer from the bathroom and brought it back. Carlos scrunched up his face when he saw the device.

"Open up," Logan said. "The sooner I take your temperature, the sooner I can get you healthy so you can go back to the party."

Carlos found this reasonable and opened up his mouth for Logan to place it under his tongue. He pouted and whined when the metal tip jabbed into the bottom of his tongue. Logan rolled his eyes and mussed the boy's hair up.

"Ssh, it'll just take a minute."

It seemed like more than a minute to Carlos, but finally it beeped and Logan took it out and read the numbers aloud. "Ninety nine point four, not bad, but still it means you're sick. Does anything else hurt? Your head or your throat, maybe?"

"No," Carlos said. It was the truth. The only thing that was bothering him was his lower tummy.

"Hmm. Where does your stomach hurt?" Logan said, resting his hand on Carlos abdomen and pressing lightly. If Carlos really had eaten too much, his stomach would have been hard and extended, but it was still soft.

"Lower," Carlos said, and Logan pressed down on his stomach a couple inches downward, making Carlos groan in pain. Tears pricked at his eyes.

"Oh, sorry Carlos," Logan said quickly, trying to rub out the pain in his stomach. "Well, my guess is you ate something bad? Indigestion wouldn't cause a fever. But you ate the same things as we did today so I don't really understand."

"I just want it to stop hurting," Carlos whimpered. Logan rubbing his stomach was only helping a little bit. He was afraid of throwing up.

"It'll go away soon buddy, just rest for a bit and let it runs its course," Logan said. "Do you want some ginger ale?"

Carlos shook his head, burying his face in his pillow. The cramps were getting really bad now, causing his stomach to churn. He had never been so nauseated in his life.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Carlos mumbled, the stuffing in his pillow making his words sound more like "mmph umph uh mmphoom."

"What was that?" Logan asked, leaning forward so he could hear a little better.

Carlos turned his head slightly to the side and repeated himself. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, Oh!" Logan said with realization, helping Carlos to his feet. He led him to their shared bathroom. "Do you want me to come in with you?"

"Ok," Carlos said as he kneeled in front of the toilet. Logan sat on the edge of the tub and they waited. Carlos was gripping the toilet with white knuckles as wave after wave of pain washed over his tummy, but he never threw up.

"Logie," Carlos whined with rising frustration, looking to his friend for help with big, doe-like eyes that glistened with the beginnings of tears.

"Maybe you don't need to throw up yet," Logan said. "Do you want to lie down and I can bring you a bucket instead?"

Carlos nodded and shakily started to rise to his feet. He felt like he needed to lay down now.

Logan helped him up off the tile floor, but as soon he stood up straight, he felt an odd, uncomfortable and painful sensation in his lower abdomen.

"Carlos, are you alright?" Logan asked when the Latino's face distorted with the intense pain.

"No," Carlos whimpered, cringing. He shoved a perplexed Logan out the door and locked it just in time to get to the toilet and pull his jeans to his ankles.

"Carlos, are you ok?" Logan asked, pounding on the door, and Carlos kind of wished he would go away for the moment. If he wasn't in so much pain, he would have been embarrassed, but right now his stomach felt like it was being ripped apart.

Carlos cried out and shuddered, gripping his aching stomach. Finally he found the strength to answer his worried best friend. "I'm ok Logie just wait for me in my room."

Logan sighed and stopped knocking. "Ok, buddy. Call me if you need anything." The brunette went back to Carlos' room and sat on his bed, feeling anxious. He tried to think of something, anything, that could have made Carlos so violently ill but he could not recall his friend anything spoiled in the past couple of days.

A few minutes later, a very sweaty and pale Carlos trudged into the bedroom, his eyes half shut and arms around his stomach. He looked pitiful, and Logan's heart broke at the sight.

"What happened, 'Los?"

"I had diarrhea," Carlos admitted shyly. "But I didn't throw up. I feel like I need to but I can't."

"Oh, Carlos," Logan said softly. The younger boy crawled underneath the covers that Logan lifted for him and started to cry. He kept moaning "it hurts, it hurts," over and over again, until finally he fell asleep. Logan lied down next to Carlos and slung an arm around his shoulders, deciding he didn't feel safe leaving Carlos alone at the moment, and took out his cellphone.

"Carlos is too sick to come back to the party. Something is wrong," Logan texted to James. "I think he might have a touch of the flu. See you later tonight."

Logan pressed send and settled down into the pillows. Carlos' sweaty body curled into Logan's and clutched his waist as if he was a teddy bear, but the brunette didn't mind. He felt terrible for Carlos. His birthday had been ruined. Logan just hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

**A/N Whew first chapter done! I hope you guys like it so far! What do you think? I'll be leaving little clues throughout the chapters over what's wrong with Carlos so keep your eyes peeled if you want to try to guess! Now I'm going to go work on the next chaps of Silence and Trapped because no, I haven't forgotten about those!**

**Thank you so much for reading, and reviews are my heartbeat! If you leave one, you will get cherry macaroons dipped in chocolate. Mmmm, tantalizing.**


	2. Better

**A/N Thank you sooo much for all of the reads, reviews and favorites already! Makes me excited to get this show on the road! I love you all **

Kendall, Logan and James were seated around the kitchen table, fidgeting nervously with their fingers and random objects atop the wooden surface. There was an uncomfortable, anxious silence save for the random sounds of throats clearing, sighs, and the incessant ticking of the clock that their eyes would shift to every 5 minutes.

It had been 17 hours since Carlos had fallen asleep in Logan's arms. The party had ended not long after Carlos had fallen ill, even though his birthday bash was slated to last until the early hours of the morning. It just wasn't the same without Carlos. It felt empty without the joyous, energetic Latino. It was just too sad to continue the party while he was sick in bed.

"Why isn't he waking up?" James asked suddenly. Logan and Kendall jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion to the silence, breaking their thoughts.

"I don't know," Logan said with a sigh, running a hand over his weary face. He glanced up to the clock for the hundredth time that day. It had been 10 PM when Carlos had laid down, and now it was 5 pm the next day. It was definitely disconcerting behavior. Logan's doctor alarms were going insane in his mind. He was checking on Carlos constantly and kept a close eye on his fever all night and all day. But the fever, which stayed under one hundred degrees, ended up breaking around noon. Carlos' slumber was undisturbed, no moaning or fussing whatsoever. It was as if he wasn't even sick anymore, just sleepy.

"Should we try to wake him up again?" Kendall asked. The last 10 attempts had been futile. Carlos hadn't budged, not even stirred, when they had tried to shake him awake.

Logan nodded. "Yeah, in a little bit. I'll give him one more hour and then I think we need to take him to the hospital."

James and Kendall paled at Logan's words. They couldn't help but be shocked, even though they knew it was true.

"Is it really… Hospital-serious?" James had to ask, his hazel eyes now a shade of puppy-dog brown. The brunette always had color-changing eyes, and they were known to get dark whenever he was feeling scared.

"Even if he isn't sick, he can get dehydrated. He'll need an I.V soon," Logan explained, his voice dull as he wracked his brain with thoughts of what could be wrong with the young boy. "Especially since he lost a lot of fluids last night. He was really, really sick guys…" Logan's voice trailed off as he thought of how tiny and pale Carlos seemed mere hours ago, how his body shook so hard. He was so weak and in so much pain. Something like that just didn't go away overnight…

"I want to take him to the hospital now," Logan said abruptly, scooting his chair away from the table, the wooden legs scraping loudly against the tile floor. "I can't wait any longer."

James and Kendall followed wordlessly, their stomach's doing flip-flops. They looked at each other and swallowed nervously. Kendall blinked and gave James a look meant to say "It will be ok," but the blonde only ended up looking as scared as James felt.

To their surprise though, when the trio entered Carlos' bedroom, the Latino was sitting up in his bed, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"Carlos!" Logan said, running to his friend's side. "Dude, are you ok buddy?"

"Huh?" Carlos asked, lowering his fists to look at his friends in confusion. He was swarmed with endless questions and hands on his face, feeling his forehead and neck. Finally, Carlos had to swipe the hands away and try to shush them.

"Guys! I can only answer one question at a time!" Carlos said. "What is it?"

"How are you feeling?" Logan asked, feeling Carlos' forehead one last time. His skin was completely cool to the touch. He wasn't even pale anymore. His cheeks were tan and rosy, just like they were supposed to be. If Logan hadn't witnessed Carlos' episode last night, he would have said that the teenager was completely healthy.

"Kind of tired, really thirsty," Carlos admitted. James frowned and sat beside Carlos, putting a hand on his back.

"Tired? You're kidding, right?" The brunette said. How could he still be tired?

"Yeah, why? I feel weak, like I just ran a marathon," Carlos said.

"You slept for 17 hours buddy," Logan reminded him softly. Carlos frowned in confusion, and then his entire face drooped with sadness, as if he just remembered something.

"I missed my party, didn't I? Because I was so sick," Carlos said sadly.

"Yeah, you did buddy," Logan said. "But it's ok, you didn't mean to get sick. It happens. You're probably just weak because you haven't eaten or drank anything since you got sick. Go take a shower buddy, and I'll have some breakfast ready for you on the table when you come out."

"Ok," Carlos said, giving Logan a small smile, but the boys could tell that he was still very upset that he missed the party.

James, Logan and Kendall left to give Carlos some privacy and congregated in the kitchen. They were flabbergasted. Carlos was fine. At least, he seemed to be, anyway.

Kendall and James looked to Logan, as if he had all the answers. He was supposed to have all of the answers. He was the doctor of the group. He always knew what was wrong.

"Logan, is he really ok?" Kendall asked.

"I don't know, it's hard to tell," Logan said. "He could be faking. But he doesn't have a fever and he looks fine. It's like a totally different person than he was last night. I'll just make him some food and if he doesn't eat, than we know he's still not feeling so good."

James and Kendall shrugged. It sounded like a good enough plan. One step at a time.

Logan set to work on making oatmeal and fruit for Carlos, and they waited for their friend to join them. 15 minutes later, Carlos came out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a Looney Tunes t-shirt. His usually spikey hair was wet, bangs hanging droopily above his eyebrows.

"Hey guys," Carlos greeted, shuffling to the table in his slippers. His voice was anything but cheerful. His mind was still on the party. He couldn't believe he missed what was planned to be the best night of his life. Well, at least he got to participate in half of it, but the best part was supposed to be late at night.

'Hey 'Litos, I made you some oatmeal and berries, your favorite," Logan said, pointing to the breakfast set-up on Carlos' spot at the table.

Carlos nodded and mumbled a" thanks," sitting down and picking up his spoon. His stomach grumbled with hunger and he wasted no time in eating.

"Slow down, bro," Logan warned. "Small bites."

"Oh, yeah," Carlos said sheepishly, slowing his eating down. He could feel his friend's eyes staring at him intently, watching his every mood. It was starting to make him feel weird.

"Dudes, what's up?" Carlos asked, looking up from his breakfast.

"Nothing!' James shouted quickly, looking away from Carlos and to a random newspaper on the table. Carlos sighed.

"You guys won't stop staring at me," Carlos accused. "Why are you staring? Is something wrong?"

"Well that's kind of what we want to know," Logan said, arching his eyebrows. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Carlos said. "You're right Logan, I think all I needed was some food." Carlos took his last drink of apple juice and smiled.

For some reason, Logan didn't seem convinced. "Nothing hurts? You feel… Just like you did before you got sick?"

"Yep!" Carlos said with a smile. "I'm fine. So, what are we going to do today?"

"Nothing," Logan said firmly. "You are going to rest for the rest of the evening."

"But I rested all day!" Carlos argued. He wanted to go out and play, not sit around the apartment all day. Couldn't Logan see that he wasn't sick anymore?

"Still, something doesn't seem right," Logan said, making Carlos roll his eyes.

"Logan you worry so much! It was just a tummyache!" Carlos said persistently. He looked to Kendall and James for help, but they just shrugged. They were siding with Logan on this one, wanting to be sure Carlos really was completely healthy before they did anything.

"It was not just a tummyache," Logan said, crossing his arms like he always does when he get into fights he knows he wouldn't back out of.

"But Logie-" Carlos started, but an annoying beeping ringtone cut him off mid-whine.

"Hold on," Logan said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "It's Gustavo, again. I told him already that we can't make it to rehearsal today!" Logan went to answer the phone, but Carlos snatched the phone away swiftly, turned around, and ran underneath the table.

"Hey Gustavo, it's Carlos!" The Latino said, ignoring his yelling friends, who were trying to grab his ankles and drag him out from under the table, but the chairs were obstacles getting in their way.

"Um, Carlos? I thought you were sick!" Gustavo said loudly, sounding annoyed.

"I was, but I'm not anymore. Too much partying last night I guess!" Carlos said. He cracked up laughing, but Gustavo was not amused and didn't laugh with him.

"Carlos you do realize we are a week away from a _WORLD TOUR _and we can't afford to miss any rehearsals!" Gustavo roared. "If you are better, than I want all of you dogs to get your mangy butts and wagging tails here in the next 15 minutes or Big Time Rush will not be touring All Over the World anymore!"

Carlos gulped, ceasing his kicking, and the boys were able to get a hold on his ankles and drag him out.

"Ok Mister Gustavo Sir!" Carlos said, lying belly-up on the kitchen tile. He pressed the red "end call" button and reached his arm up, handing the phone back to Logan.

"What did he say?" Logan asked a tired sigh. Carlos was too much to keep up with sometimes.

"What did who say?" Carlos asked, letting James and Kendall take him by the arms and heave him to his feet.

"_GUSTAVO!" _James, Kendall and Logan chorused together. Carlos recoiled from their shouting voices.

"Oh. He said that if we didn't get our mangy tails and wagging butts to the studio in 15 minutes, Big Time Rush would not be doing a world tour," Carlos said, proud of himself for relaying the information.

James groaned while Logan smacked himself in the forehead with his palm.

"Are you kidding me? That's what he said?" Logan said, stomping his foot like a little kid.

Carlos thought a moment. "Wait, no! I got it wrong," Carlos corrected himself, and Logan looked up hopefully. "He said mangy _butts_ and wagging _tails_. Butts don't wag!" Carlos laughed at his joke. Logan looked ready to slap him upside the head, but took his hand back when he remembered that Carlos could still be sick.

"Ugh, Carlos! We can't go to rehearsal, you're sick!" Logan said.

"But I want to go on a world tour!" Carlos said. "It's bad enough I missed my birthday, I have to miss my world tour too?" The Latino pushed out his bottom lip. His eyes took the appearance of being big and wet, as if he were about to burst into tears at any moment.

"He's going to use this whole 'I missed my birthday' thing as black mail for a _long_ time, isn't he?" James whispered to Kendall. The blonde nodded in agreement.

"No, we'll go to rehearsal," Logan said. He couldn't ever really tell if Gustavo was serious with his threats or not but he wasn't about to find out. "Just take it easy, ok Carlos? And if you feel sick, tell one of us! I'll meet you guys in the car."

Carlos turned around to Kendall and James, who were staring at Carlos with their arms folded against their chests.

"Is Logie mad at me?" Carlos asked. Kendall and James nodded with a "duh" look on their faces. The Latino cringed.

"Whoops! I love you Logan!" He exclaimed, running after Logan down the hall. Logan grumbled something in reply and ignored him. Carlos skipped to his small friend's side and poked his stomach. "You know you love me!"

Logan snorted, but he couldn't help but chuckle when he looked up and saw the child-like playfulness in Carlos' eyes, and the way his cheeks were puffed out in a huge smile. Carlos slung an arm around his shoulders, and Logan leaned into his side as they walked together.

"Yeah, I know," the brunette said with a crooked smile.

**A/N Huh. Carlos is better? Well that's fishy…**

**Ahh these lil booties are so comfy. Sorry you don't care but they are just so squishy and pink! Well I'm off to see one of my favorite bands, Skillet! It's gonna get crazy! Reviews make me cartwheel!**


	3. Signs

**A/N Sorry for my random, unexplained break. I had too much to deal with and needed to clear my head but I'm back. Thanks for all the reviews and everything and if I haven't replied I am really sorry I don't mean to alienate everyone. I read them all and loved every single one. I hope I didn't make anyone mad by not updating. If I did I'm really sorry.**

**I will also post some of the concert story in my A/N if anyone wants to know how it goes!**

Logan didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to even _think. _And Kendall and James were just as flabbergasted as he was. Because Carlos was just as hyper, happy and healthy as he always was. Logan had been expecting for the younger boy to break down mid-rehearsal with a stomachache or a fever, but it was 10 pm and he was bouncing off the walls, executing every dance move that Mr. X threw at him perfectly. His body was not lagging, he hit every count. He didn't seem tired or pale. Carlos was perfectly fine.

Finally, Gustavo gave them a break, and while Kendall, James and Logan were exhausted, Carlos was chowing down on corndogs happily, chatting about how pumped he was for the concert while munching on his dinner.

"My favorite song is 'Love Me, Love Me," Carlos went on and on, squirting ketchup onto his next corndog. "But my favorite one to dance is 'Time of Our Lives. I'm really glad you wrote that song, Logan. Cause it's fun. I hope the fans like 'Invisible…' Do you think the fans will like it?" Carlos paused long enough to take a giant bite of his corndog, looking at his friends expectantly. They didn't give him the answer he was hoping for. Instead, they were just kind of staring at him like he was a freak.

"What?" Carlos asked, a piece of corndog falling from his mouth as he spoke.

"Don't get us wrong, we are happy that you're back to your old Carlos self," Kendall said.

"However annoying that Carlos may be," James muttered under his breath, and Logan stepped on his foot with force underneath the table they sat at, making him yelp with pain.

"But are you sure you're feeling good?" Kendall continued, ignoring James.

Carlos sighed. He appreciated the fact that his friends worried about him so much, but they were getting pesky. He didn't want to trouble his friends any longer. Why couldn't they just accept that he was fine?

"Guys, I ate too much and got a little sick to my stomach," Carlos said. "It's not a big deal."

"But you were so tired and weak," Logan put in. Carlos shook his head.

"Maybe our ridiculous rehearsal schedule was just getting to me," Carlos explained. "We've all been tired. I just needed to catch up on some sleep. I feel fine now."

"What about the fever?" Logan pressed on, his eyes dark as he studied his friend, searching for any signs that Carlos might be lying.

"I don't know. But I'm better now, ok? People get sick sometimes. Stop worrying about me, I can handle myself. I'm a big boy," Carlos said gently, but he scooted his chair away from the table, got up, and headed back to the studio, indicating that he was done with the subject.

"Carlos is right, he seems ok to me," James said. "I know that kid, and he isn't hiding anything from us."

Logan shrugged and gathered his dinner garbage. "Yeah, I guess. Let's just get tonight over with. Gustavo said we have one more hour and a half and then we can finally go home."

For the rest of the week, it was crunch time at Rocque Records. The boys didn't get one break. They worked all day and sometimes even all night, perfecting everything. It was an exciting experience to them, even though their schedule was rigorous and tiring. They got to meet all of their crew, see their tour buses, and look at their wardrobe. Every day, the prospect that they were actually going on a worldwide tour got even more real. The boys could hardly believe it.

And Carlos was himself through it all. His illness was quickly forgotten about when he proved to be fine mid-week. He didn't suffer any stomachaches, or fevers, or any symptoms at all. Logan accepted the fact that Carlos had just caught a 24 hour bug and pushed it to the back of his mind.

By the time they were boarding their plane en route to the UK, Carlos' mysterious sickness was all but forgotten about.

"Hey Logie, what language do the people in the 'Uck' speak?" Carlos asked, peering at the back of Logan's spikey-haired head as he kicked his smart friend's chair absent-mindedly from behind him.

Logan sighed dramatically and turned his body awkwardly in his seat so he could give Carlos a "Really?" look.

"First of all, quit kicking my seat," Logan warned, putting his hand up. "Second of all, it's pronounced the "U-K" and it stands for the United Kingdom. And they speak English, Carlos. The United Kingdom is England."

"Oh," Carlos said. "Well why don't they just call it 'England' than?"

Logan squinted his eyes and rubbed his temple. "I don't know Carlitos," he said simply, turning back around in the small seat. He stared out the window, anxious for the plane to take off already. Carlos was back to kicking Logan's seat again as he softly recited words to one of their songs under his breath. Logan wasn't sure how long he could take being stuck in a plane in front of Carlos.

"Well this should be fun," Kendall said from beside Carlos, turning his ipod on and sticking his blue earbuds in, ready to fall asleep to music during the long plane ride.

Logan leaned his head back and sighed. However exciting this was, he was worn out, as were the other boys too. It had been an exceptionally long week and this plane ride was their first excuse to rest in a very long time. He had every intention on falling asleep. Kendall and James were out like a light, but Carlos, the never ending ball of energy, continually kicked and fidgeted and sang. Logan was afraid he might snap at the Latino to stop, but managed to keep his lips sealed and did math problems over and over in his head to tune out the annoyance behind him.

However, a few minutes into the fight, the constant kicking and humming ceased. Logan risked a look back to see if Carlos maybe, finally, fell asleep. He turned quietly and peered over the head rest to see Carlos hunched low in his seat, appearing a bit gray and squeamish with his arms around his middle.

"'Litos, you ok?" Logan whispered, careful not wake his snoring friends. He leaned in close to his small friend and frowned. He didn't look so good.

Carlos looked up, his brown eyes sad and watery and his lips pulled down in a pout. He nodded and muttered "Unh-huh," but Logan was unconvinced.

"Dude what's wrong?" The brunette pressed, feeling a pit of worry forming in his stomach. A dreadful thought passed his mind that Carlos may be sick again.

"I don't feel good," Carlos said, admitting the 4 words that Logan was fearful of hearing again.

"Do you feel like you did at your party again?" Logan asked. Carlos shrugged and rubbed his forehead.

"My head hurts," the Latino said, scrunching up his eyes in discomfort. "Do you have any medicine Logan?"

"No, but maybe the stewardess does. Um, excuse me, miss?" Logan asked politely, waving down a young lady in a gray uniform. She smiled and headed towards Logan.

"What can I get you, sir?" she asked, flashing a bright, toothy smile.

"Um actually it's for my friend. He isn't feeling so well and I was wondering if you have some Tylenol?" Logan asked hopefully. The stewardess frowned in pity and studied Carlos.

"Awe, poor sweetie," she cooed. "What's wrong?"

"He has a headache," Logan told her, and Carlos nodded, his chocolate eyes in full-blown puppy mode now, melting the heart of the young woman working on the plane.

"That's ok," she chimed cheerfully, searching for a packet of medicine on her small cart that she was pushing with her. "A lot of people experience headaches on a flight like this, since we are passing through low pressure. It's normal. Is this your first flight, sweetie?" Carlos nodded. The stewardess smiled and handed him a packet of pills and a water bottle. "I thought so. Just drink lots of water and get some rest. We will be in London before you know it."

"I think I have air sickness too," Carlos said after swallowing his headache medicine. He rubbed his stomach and frowned, feeling a bit nauseous. He wished they could just land already so he could be on solid, unmoving ground.

"That's normal too. It might fade in a bit, once you get used to being in the air," the stewardess explained. "Sleeping helps. I hope you feel better." The young woman ruffled Carlos' hair and moved forward with her cart. Carlos smiled weakly.

"She was nice," he said, leaning back against his seat and trying to get comfortable. Logan was staring at him though, his eyes filled with worry. "I'm _fine _Logan, you heard the lady. Once we land I will be all better."

"I know," Logan said. Something felt kind of sketchy to him, though. He could not shake the feeling that something was off. "Just get some sleep, buddy."

Carlos smiled and nodded, putting his head back and closing his eyes, and Logan turned around, satisfied. A few minutes later, the sweet young woman brought blankets and pillows for them and even helped tuck Carlos in snugly.

"There you go, cutie," she said, flipping her blonde ponytail back. She made sure the blanket was tight around Carlos shoulders, and he grinned gratefully and blushed profusely.

"How about you?" The woman asked, turning to Logan. The pale boy immediately turned pink and shook his head, but it was too late, she was already tucking him and placing a fluffy pillow beneath his head. "Sleep good boys," she said, and flounced off to tend to other riders.

"That was awkward," Logan said softly. Carlos giggled.

"I think she liked you, Logie. She kept smiling and winking at you."

"Yeah right," Logan snorted.

"Why do you say that?" Carlos asked, his voice getting heavy as he slowly drifted to sleep.

'Well for starters she's pretty and like, 7 years older than me at least," Logan said. Carlos shrugged best he could in his blanket caccoon.

"So? She's all sweet and motherly like you. Maybe you two were meant to be," Carlos said. Logan raised his eyebrows. Carlos always gave the oddest compliments.

"Go to sleep, 'Litos," he instructed.

"Kay. Night, Logan."

"Good night," Logan whispered, refusing to fall asleep until he was sure Carlos was fast asleep first.

**A/N Another short chapter… Don't worry they will get longer as the story progress's. Things are about to get really bad.**

**Oh and I am sure some of you are wondering how the BTR concert was, it's only all I have been able to talk about since January. So, after 3 months of anticipation, we finally hit the road to Houston. It was a 12 hour drive and we got in an accident and were stranded in some tiny Texas town because our tire blew out and we spun across the freeway into oncoming traffic. A couple mechanics found us crying on the side of the road and fixed us up for free which was probably the biggest blessing to ever happen in my life and thankfully we got to Houston. We arrived in the middle of the night, way after we thought we would so we had no time to go explore and do stuff like we wanted to. The Rodeo the next day ended up being ok, we were too shooken up from the accident to want to ride all but one ride, some like spaceship ride that spins around ridiculously fast and uses centrifugal (sp?) force to push you against the wall. I'm a daredevil and climbed to the top of the spaceship and got in trouble along with losing my phone which flew out of my pocket. Then we went to the Reliant Stadium and hung out in their VIP bar cuz we are derfs and then we watched the rodeo, then the show started and even though we paid 300 dollars for first row we were in the back, freaking lightyears away from the stage, and the boys played a few songs and that was it. I can honestly say it was the biggest letdown of my life. They didn't even do Covergirl. I was so upset because the concert was supposed to be my one escape and I didn't even get a Covergirl hug and they played for like, 30 minutes. But you know me, being a stalker… So there is a hilarious story involving me thinking Big Time Rush were a van full of kidnappers. Of course something ridiculously stupid always has to happen to me but it is freaking hilarious. Courtney and I will feel shamed forever. But at least the bassist Randy requested to meet us and flirted with me endlessly… If you want that story let me know in a review because this is getting way too long! **

**Thanks for reading and pleaseeeee review it makes me sooo happy!**

**Oh ps I have VIP tix to for BTR. *Commences squealing and crying and rolling around the floor like an idiot.***


	4. Fallen Soldier

**A/N GUESS WHAT. You know how my favorite band and biggest inspiration for writing is RED? Well I got to see and meet them over the weekend! It was amazing. It was the best concert I have ever been too. I also saw 1000 Foot Krutch and Manafest. If you haven't heard RED yet, check them out because they will change your lives, and I'm not kidding. It's like they just lift you up in their arms and hold you while they perform on stage. Life's a little better, just from going to their concert a couple nights ago.**

**And thanks for all of the reads and reviews! Here's chappie 4! I also don't know much of anything about what's in London so I apologize in advance if I am wayyy off. I didn't research as much as I normally would.**

By the time the boys had landed and were cozy in their hotel room, it was quite late at night. The jet lag and time change had all 4 of them a bit grouchy and irritable, but none of them had it worse than Carlos. The young Latino wore a perpetual frown upon his tan and chubby features. He stayed quiet and pouty throughout the whole ordeal. Plain and simply put, Carlos was in a bad mood, something that was extremely rare for the overly-positive teenager. The reason why he was in a bad mood was that he felt like both the nice airplane lady and Logan lied to him, because even though the flight was long over, he still didn't feel so good. His head was still swimming and achy and his stomach felt a bit off. So while the other boys chattered endlessly about their amazing hotel room and food, Carlos curled up on his side and let his eyes fall close, desperate for more sleep even though he had slept the duration of the entire plane ride.

"I can't wait for room service to get here," James announced, and even though he was tired, there was a pep hidden in his voice. Now that the quartet were snug in their pajamas, sitting in their comfy, oversized beds with a movie playing on the HD television, the pretty boy was slowly getting in a happy mood, and so were Kendall and Logan. How could they stay grouchy when they were in some giant, fancy hotel in London?

"I know, I'm starving!" Logan exclaimed, falling backwards on his bed so that his head hit his feathery pillow with a soft "poof."

"I need meat!" Kendall groaned out, his mouth watering for the double cheeseburger he ordered off of the room service menu. His stomach grumbled unhappily. A ten hour flight, a bag of peanuts, and a teenage boy was not a good mix.

Finally, the room service arrived and an older gentleman rolled in a cart. After the server stood there expectantly for 5 minutes, Logan realized they had to tip the poor man, and after they paid him the teenagers were like wild beasts, practically jumping on the cart and attacking several plates of food.

"Carlos, dude, aren't you hungry?" James asked with his mouth stuffed full of French fries. 3 sets of eyes immediately darted on Carlos' still figure beneath the blankets.

"Did he fall asleep?" Kendall asked. "Didn't he sleep like, the entire flight?"

"Yeah, he did," Logan said worriedly, setting down his burger long enough to approach the lump that was Carlos in the middle of the giant bed that seemed to swallow him. "Yo Carlitos, you good?" The brunette gently shook Carlos' hip. The younger boy smacked his lips loudly and let out a snore. Logan chuckled.

"He's out like a light, guys."

"Huh," James said, chewing his food thoughtfully. Carlos had been pouty all evening, which was very unlike him unless something was really wrong. "Is it just me or is Carlos acting very not-Carlos-like tonight? I mean we are in a different continent and all the adults are fast asleep and he spends this freedom snoring away like he's at home."

"No, I agree," Logan said. "I think the plane ride messed him up a little, he was kind of unprepared for the whole jet lag thing I guess."

"I'm beat too," Kendall said with a giant yawn, his mouth stretching as far as it could go. He let out a groan, set down his half eaten burger, and settled into his bed. "I think Carlos has the right idea. Gustavo said we have an early morning tomorrow so we should get as much rest as we can."

"True, I need my beauty sleep," James said, reaching into his bag and pulling out his zebra-print sleep mask. Kendall and Logan shook their heads at their odd, cosmetic-obsessed best friend.

"Good night James," they said in unison. James flashed them a toothy smile, put on the eye mask, and laid down.

"Good night bro," Kendall said, turning to Logan. "Tomorrow our world tour officially starts."

"Yeah, I kind of can't believe it," Logan said, tucking himself beneath the heavy comforter on his bed. "It all seems kind of surreal, you know? We'll be doing all this publicity and interviews and then the dress rehearsal tomorrow, and the next day we play our first show in London." Logan closed his eyes and imagined himself and his buddies performing at their sold-out show at The Barbican.

"Yeah," Kendall said softly. He looked over to his small best friend, who somehow looked even tinier hidden under the comforter. "You're happy, right?"

Logan opened his eyes, a bit taken aback, but then he remembered it was Kendall talking and of course the blonde would ask a question like that. The small boy rolled on his side so he was facing Kendall and curled his arm up, supporting his head with his hand. "Yeah, of course I am Kendall. We're living the dream. I mean sure it wasn't all of our dreams at first, but now I couldn't imagine doing anything different. Especially with anybody else but you guys. No regrets, buddy. This is amazing."

Kendall smiled, satisfied at Logan's answer. He had been a bit worried about his friend's emotional states over going on a world tour, especially Logan's. He knew James was feeling practically invincible and Carlos always just took what came and kept on going, but he was still worried for them regardless.

Logan grinned back and clicked out the bedside lamp, enshrouding the room in darkness save for the light of the moon shining in through their 7th floor room. He was about to close his eyes before feeling the need to ask Kendall something.

"What about you, Kendall?"

"Hmm?" The blonde asked sleepily, already dozing off.

"Are you happy we are doing this?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I am," Kendall said, and Logan could see his warm smile even in the darkness. "I love singing, and I love my buddies. Nothing could ruin this."

"Good. See you in the morning, Kendall," Logan said, hugging the comforter to his chest, and the two boys fell asleep.

Morning came quickly, but the boys were anxious to start their first day in London. Even Carlos awoke feeling refreshed. He was a little confused at first, because the bed he was in didn't feel like his and he almost even panicked, but then he quickly remembered that they were in London.

"Guys! Look at this!" James cried, breaking the morning silence. The boys moaned and stretched, struggling to open their eyes to look at what James was speaking about. The pretty boy had the shades wide open and curtains pulled back, revealing a stunning view of London. They could see _everything. _

"Whoa!" Logan exclaimed, kicking his covers off and running to stand beside James. "Look at that! You can see Parliament!"

Big Ben looks so cool!" Kendall said excitedly, stumbling out of his own bed to join his friends.

Carlos sat up in bed and looked towards the window. The first thing he saw was a gigantic ferris wheel and felt a surge of excitement run through him. He wanted to ride it so badly.

"There's giant ferris wheel guys!" The Latino cried, jumping out of bed. As soon as his feet hit the floor, though, it felt like the room was spinning in fast circles. He was light-headed and couldn't tell what was down or what was up. All he could do was stay still until the room finally steadied a bit.

When the intense dizzy spell was over, Carlos looked over at his friends, praying they hadn't seen him nearly fall right on his butt. He was still clutching the bedframe with white knuckles to keep from falling. The boys were all facing the window though, exclaiming about everything they wanted to do and had not noticed Carlos' concerning episode.

"_That was weird,"_ Carlos thought, wondering what could have made him so dizzy. Maybe it was a normal part of jetlag?

"Carlos, whatcha doing buddy?" James asked, turning around to see where his youngest friend was. Carlos let go of the bedframe and offered James a huge smile.

"Um… Can we go on the ferris wheel first?" Carlos asked eagerly, deciding not to tell his friends about the dizziness. They were so excited and he didn't want to ruin it. Besides, they were probably all dizzy too because of the jetlag and he didn't want to be a big baby, even though to be honest it kind of scared him.

"Duh! Let's go!" Kendall said, pumping his fist in the air. The 4 boys cheered and ran towards the door, flinging it open and squishing each other to get through.

"Wait!" Logan suddenly yelled as they ran down the hall. He looked down at his bright red boxers and t-shirt and cringed. "We need to get dressed first!"

Kendall winced and looked down. He, too, was in his boxers, while James was shirtless with a pair of gray silk pajama bottoms and Carlos was in flannel pajamas with bananas and monkeys on them. "Hurry! Before- oh no. Paparazzi see us..."

As Kendall spoke, 5 guys with cameras seemed to jump out of nowhere and attacked the boy band with bright, flashing lights. Logan shrieked and Carlos and Kendall stumbled over their own feet trying to back away.

"Well hello paparazzi, I'm James," the pretty boy introduced himself with a gleaming smile as he flexed his bare bicep for the cameras.

"James! Have you no shame?" Logan yelled, cupping his hands and covering his crotch area. He was horribly reminded of when they had that stupid reality show follow them around the apartment several months ago.

"James, let's go!' Kendall whined, grabbing his conceited friends arm and taking off back towards their hotel room.

"Well that was embarrassing," Logan said, slamming the door behind him when he was sure all of his friends were inside and away from the humiliating flash of lights.

"It was kind of fun," Carlos said, his earlier dizziness forgotten about now due to the brief excitement. It had gone as quickly as it came. "At least we're popular here."

"Well photos on the internet of us in our jammies and boxers, is not the impression I wanted to make during our first morning in London!" Kendall said. "Let's just shower and dress and meet Gustavo in the lobby in an hour. Agreed?"

"Let's do this!" The boys said.

Exactly one hour later, the boys were clean with combed hair and suitable clothes for interviews on. They had a knack for being able to appear casual while still looking nice. That was one thing Gustavo and Kelly had to admit, they didn't have to hire any professional dressers for the boys. The teens could all pull together stylish outfits without any help.

The boys made their way down to the lobby, and the paparazzi must have sensed that they were fully clothed because they weren't attacked by the flashing bulbs this time. Gustavo and Kelly were waiting in the lobby with the boys' itineraries in their hands.

"Hi Gustavo, hi Kelly!" Carlos said happily, waving at their record producer and his assistant with a huge smile on his face.

"Dogs, finally!" Gustavo barked, already shoving the itineraries into their hands.

"We aren't even late," James said with a scoff, and Gustavo just ignored him.

"We have a busy day today so I hope you have you're A-game on," Gustavo explained. Carlos couldn't help but squeal, hoping that the ferris wheel was included in this busy day. To his dismay, however, there was nothing about a ferris wheel written on the busy schedule.

"Gustavo, can't we do the ferris wheel?" Carlos pleaded, balling his hands together into one tiny fist and jutting his lower lip out.

"Please, please, please Gustavo?" Kendall joined in.

"No, we have way too much to do," The record producer said without regret. "We have no time for childish things like ferris wheels."

"But it would mean so much to him, and since he missed his own birthday party it could be like a late birthday present," Logan quipped when Carlos' features fell into a pout. He hated seeing Carlos sad. "How long can it take, anyway?"

"_Nooooo," _Gustavo drawled. "N-O, no. Now come on we have a limo to catch and a brunch/interview and a photo shoot with London Beat Teen Magazine." Gustavo marched out of the lobby, and the boys followed sadly, Carlos dragging his feet and hunching his shoulders.

"Sorry boys but Gustavo's right," Kelly said as they made their way to the limo. "We have way too much to do today, but you are here for 5 days, I'm sure I can let him give you a long enough break for a ferris wheel ride."

"Yay! Thank you Kelly!" Carlos cooed, slinging his arms around her shoulders and giving her a tight squeeze. She laughed and patted his arms.

"Ok, let's get in the limo and do our first London interview!" She said, causing the boys too cheer with excitement.

After the magazine meeting, the boys did a radio appearance and then headed over to the Barbican for a full dress rehearsal. It was the last and only chance for the boys to get used to the stage and set, practice quick changes, and even for the crew to get all of the lighting and sound perfectly. Everything had to be perfect, so they were a little stressed at the pressure Gustavo was putting on their shoulders as he went on and on about how nothing could be messed up.

Carlos gulped nervously as his quick-changer dressed him in his first outfit for the opening of the show. He didn't always do so well under pressure, and he was actually dreading going up on the stage for the first time in his boy band career. He longed to be in bed, at home, instead of under the biggest stage he ever played on. He was quite tired, anyway, for some reason. Stupid jetlag.

"Ok, you boys ready?" A stage manager asked, entering beneath the stage. The reason they were underneath it instead of backstage was because they were to ride an elevating platform up to the top and appear in a flash of fog.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Kendall said, standing on the platform. The boys followed. Carlos took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. His stomach was feeling a bit knotty, as if he had butterflies or something and his knees were wobbly.

"I'm nervous," Carlos whispered, standing in his place on the elevator. He fidgeted with his leather jacket and swallowed, trying to distract himself.

"Really?" James whispered back as he adjusted one of his black gloves, raising his eyebrows.

Carlos nodded, not fully aware that he had said that out loud. He blushed a bit when James gave him a sad look.

"There aren't even people in the audience, buddy. And we've rehearsed the moves a thousand times. You'll be fine. Besides, I got your back," James assured him.

Carlos tried to smile and nodded. He opened his mouth to respond, but somebody cued the music and the platform suddenly started to rise.

Despite Carlos' concerns, the first few songs went without a hitch. Everything was going so perfectly, but the slight nausea stayed. About halfway through the set, Carlos was getting into the familiar movements of the dance to "Time of Our Lives" when the weakness in his knees was intensified. His legs quite literally felt like jello and refused to hold him anymore.

With a cry of surprise, Carlos went down, his knees buckling painfully. He hit the stage hard with a loud, dull thud. The music stopped instantly and all eyes were on the fallen boy, who flushed bright red with humiliation.

"Carlos, are you ok?" James asked frantically, running to his friend's aid.

"What happened?" Kelly asked worriedly, coming onto the stage from behind the curtains.

"I-I fell," Carlos said, stunned by his own collapse. Logan and Kendall were at his side in a moments flash, being on the complete opposite end of the stage.

"Are you hurt?" Logan asked. "Did you twist an ankle?"

"N-no," Carlos said in a small voice. He wasn't really sure what had happened.

"Well did you trip?" Kendall asked. Carlos shook his head. The boys were stumped and a little concerned, but Carlos pushed them away gently and made to get back up. But to his horror, he found he couldn't. When he tried to stand up, his legs shook beneath the weight and collapsed once more. At the same time, his head spun sickeningly.

"Carlos?" Logan asked slowly, reaching out to catch his friend before he fell to the stage again. James helped Logan with the weight and lowered the small boy to the floor.

"Ok, what's going on buddy?" Kendall asked. His heart was racing now. Why couldn't Carlos get up?

"My legs, they're weak. I feel really weak," Carlos admitted, tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked them back and looked at his feet, feeling ridiculous. How could this happen on one of the most dire nights of their lives?

Logan looked confounded. "You're weak? Do you feel sick?"

Carlos shook his head and rubbed his thigh muscles, which were starting to feel achy. He figured that the butterflies in his tummy that he blamed on nerves didn't constitute as "sick," and even if it did, he wasn't about to admit it.

"No, my legs are just sore and weak."

James and Kendall looked at Logan for an answer, but he didn't have any more of an idea than they did.

"It might be the plane ride," Kelly said, a little unsure. "Jetlag? And weakness in his legs from sitting so long? That's my only guess."

"Yeah, that must be it," Carlos said. "Or I pulled a muscle." Logan didn't look convinced though.

"Both legs at the same time though? I don't know… Do you promise you don't feel sick?" Logan asked.

"I promise," Carlos said. "Can we stop with the 20 questions and get back to rehearsal now? Before Gustavo kills me?" The small boy pointed towards the red-faced man who looked quite angry on the side of the stage, yelling at some poor, innocent stagehand.

"Can you get up?" James asked, reaching out his hand to help him up. Carlos took it and James slowly lifted him to his feet. His knees wobbled dangerously, but his legs weren't as weak anymore. Instead, they ached terribly, as if he did intense exercises all day without properly stretching first.

"You good?" Logan asked, brown eyes filled with worry for his little friend.

"Yeah, my muscles are just so sore," Carlos said with a hiss. Logan placed a hand on his back and frowned. Gustavo approached the Latino and glared at him.

"Carlos! Are you dying?" The large man yelled. Carlos squeaked.

"N-no?"

"Good. Than whatever is your little issue, you need to suck it up and finish this rehearsal. Cue the music, get in your spots, we are starting over 'Time of Our Lives.' Now boys!" Gustavo was practically screaming now and stormed off the stage. Logan gave a scared Carlos a sympathetic look.

"Are you really ok, buddy?"

"I have to be," Carlos said, taking his first shaky step. "We have to finish this rehearsal. I must have just pulled a muscle."

Logan sighed. He knew how important it was to finish the rehearsal. He was worried at first that Carlos might be sick, but he was sure it was just a pulled muscle or tired legs from the plane ride.

It took more strength than it should have, but Carlos got in position for "Time of Our Lives," ignoring the pain in his legs and how he felt a little lightheaded. It was just jetlag, right? He could take it. He had to, or else he would ruin the show for his buddies and the thousands of fans that were going to be there, cheering him on. His symptoms were scaring him, but the show must go on. It had to.

**A/N Well those are some weird symptoms…**

**Reviews are giraffes! I love giraffes. Please give me a giraffe. Pleasie? I will be eternally grateful for your giraffe.**


	5. Broken Promise?

**A/N I wish I was a Mermaid.**

The dress rehearsal passed fairly quickly and smoothly after Carlos' odd behavior. Logan watched the young boy like a hawk, however, and noticed that he was much more sluggish and shaky in his movements. He just couldn't bring himself to believe that Carlos was only experiencing a pulled muscle or weak legs from sitting too long. Someone backstage had even mentioned restless leg syndrome, which seemed plausible considering how hyper Carlos was, but it just didn't add up in Logan's mind. He seemed to be the only one who still remembered Carlos' illness on his birthday, even though it had happened over a week ago. Nobody else was really as worried as Logan was.

"Carlitos, are you sure you're feeling alright?" Logan had to ask. It was now late evening, and all of the boys were clean, showered, and in their pajamas. Kendall and James had challenged each other to a game of zombies and were currently running around the room shooting each other with nerf guns, something Carlos normally would have participated in, but this time the Latino was laying on his bed rather listlessly, watching cartoons on the big screen television.

"I'm fine, why?" Carlos asked, sitting up when he felt the bed dip down with the added weight of Logan. He absentmindedly scooted closer towards his friend and curled up against his side. Logan was slightly alarmed by this. Carlos was giving himself away without even realizing it, because Logan knew from experience that the younger boy liked to cuddle when he wasn't feeling well. He craved the comfort of physical touch when he was sick, much like a child would.

"Because you worried me when you collapsed on stage tonight," Logan said truthfully, wrapping an arm around Carlos' shoulders. "That wasn't normal, what happened. And I'd be much more keen to believe that you simply pulled a muscle, but you haven't been acting yourself lately, and you barely even ate your dinner tonight. Plus you were feeling sick on the plane… When you put it all together like that, wouldn't you say that's a bit concerning?"

Carlos sighed and shrugged. "It's just jetlag, right?" He asked nervously.

"I don't know, buddy," Logan said, hoping he wasn't scaring Carlos. He reached out his hand and placed it beneath Carlos' still-damp bangs to feel for fever, but he was cool to the touch. "Maybe… But if you keep feeling like this, promise you'll let me know?"

Carlos smiled a dimpled smile. "I promise, Logan."

"Who wants to go with me to get more ice?" James suddenly sang out, tossing a metal bucket into the air and catching it agilely. He was thirsty from an intense game of zombies and displeased to find they were all out of ice for their extensive soda collection.

"Oh, me!" Carlos said with false excitement, hoping that his enthusiasm would help convince Logan that he wasn't sick. He rolled out of bed and ignored the weakness in his legs to walk with his best buddy to the ice machine, which was on the opposite end of the hall that they were staying on.

"Man, I'm so excited for tomorrow night!" James said, his voice high-pitched with excitement as they walked shoulder to shoulder. "Our first show in London! Plus, we get to meet our British fans for the first time! Can you imagine, a bunch of hot girls from England just begging to _touch _us?"

James' words turned into a buzzing swarm in Carlos' ears. He couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. The occasional lightheadedness that he had been feeling lately was back, only this time it was much more intense. The ugly green and bronze paisley patterns on the hallway walls swirled together dizzyingly, and the ice machine, which was in view by now, seemed so far away. The movement of walking made Carlos feel nauseous, and he had no choice but to stop walking and put his hands on his knees, trying to keep his breathing steady.

"…I always wanted to marry a British girl, their accents are so classy," James continued, oblivious to the fact that he had lost his companion on the way to the ice machine. He shoved the bucket beneath the mouth of the machine and pressed the glowing green button that said "Dispense."

When James received no reply concerning his desires to marry a foreign lady he turned around, his eyebrows arched all the way up in confusion. His heart skipped a beat and the ice and British girls were forgotten when he saw Carlos 20 feet away, hunched over with his hands on his knees and his eyes scrunched closed.

"Carlos!" James called in panic, running back to his friend. "Carlos, are you ok?" He put his hands on Carlos' shoulders and waited for a response, but none came. He gently lowered the small boy to his knees and cradled him in his arms. Carlos brought his hands to his eyes and rubbed them before letting his eyelids flutter open.

"Carlitos, what happened?" James demanded, his voice firm. He placed a hand beneath Carlos' chin and forced him to look in his eyes. Carlos' chocolate eyes were confused and glazed over. He was obviously having trouble focusing on James' stare.

"I just got really woozy," Carlos finally said, blinking several times to gain his bearings back. He was thankful when the room stopped spinning and the nausea started to fade.

James didn't know what to think. He had never witnessed his friend experience something like this before. Carlos looked extremely pale and frightened, and he considered calling for Logan, despite what neighboring guests would think about a teenager yelling through the halls at this time of night.

"Well, a-are you ok?" James asked.

"Yeah, it's gone now," Carlos said. James looked at him skeptically.

"No way, I don't believe you. I'm getting Logan, stay here," James instructed, beginning to get back to his feet.

"No!" Carlos shouted, pulling James back down by his wrist. The brunette was stunned by the sharpness in Carlos' voice. When the Latino saw hurt briefly flash in James' eyes, his features immediately softened along with his voice.

"I'm ok, Jamie. Please don't tell Logan?"

"Why not?" James asked, flabbergasted. Logan was an awesome doctor. Carlos never had any objections in letting him take care of him before.

"_Because_," Carlos said simply, as if that was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

"Because why?" James asked, pressing for more information. "You seriously don't look so good buddy."

"Because I'm not sick," Carlos said.

"Then why are you still on the floor?"

Carlos huffed and brought himself off of the plush red carpeting. His legs shook dangerously at the sudden weight, but thankfully he didn't collapse again. "Look, James. I'm fine. It's just the jetlag."

James had no idea if that was true or not, if jetlag could cause someone to get dizzy like that. He certainly wasn't displaying the same symptoms Carlos was, and neither were Logan or Kendall, and they had all taken the same flight there.

"If that happens one more time I don't care what you say, I'm ratting you out," James said. Carlos pouted. "It's my big brotherly duties to report any and all potential illness to either Logan or Mama K."

"You wouldn't dare," Carlos breathed, looking warily towards the room Mrs. Knight was staying in with Katie. The two women had been out exploring London all day. If she heard of Carlos' collapse during rehearsal, they could all kiss their world tour goodbye. James shrugged, as if to say, "Try me."

Carlos just stomped to the ice machine, roughly removed the bucket, and stomped back to the hotel room, determined to prove to James, and to himself, that he wasn't and couldn't be sick.

**A/N Short chapter again, I know. Bad Channy, bad. BUT there's a reason, because if I added the next part it would have made it toooo long. I'm working on the next chapter as you read this so updates will be quick to make up for it. Please review and you can be my fellow mermaid. Or Merman. Ha, remember that movie The 13****th**** year? "I'm a mer-**_**man" **_**lol. Sorry, random 90's moment.**


	6. OffKilter

**A/N I'm still not a mermaid. D:**

Kendall was never much of a heavy sleeper. It was as if he kept one eye and one ear half open every time he slept, for the sole purpose of watching over his family and making sure they were safe. So that is why when James and Logan were out like a light bulb, Kendall could hear soft sniffles and whimpers coming from the bed across from him.

Using the moonlight in the dark room as his path, Kendall crept towards the sound and sat next to the bundle of blankets on the bed. Kendall knew it was Carlos right away. He patted the younger boy's back and waited patiently for him to speak, even though inside Kendall was dying and freaking out and desperate to know the reason why Carlos was crying.

"I had a nightmare," Carlos said after some time, removing the blankets from his face so he could look at Kendall, who's caring green eyes shone in the moonlight. Kendall nodded and "mmhmm'd" in sympathy.

"What was it about? The evil clowns again?" Kendall asked in a whisper.

"Well, no," Carlos said, sitting up and resting his back against the leather padded headboard. "There were no monsters. Just me… Screwing up."

"Screwing up? Screwing what up?" Kendall asked, his voice gentle and without judgment. He always let his friends know just by the tone of his voice that they could tell him anything.

"The world tour, Kendall. I had a dream I ruined it, and you were all so mad at me," Carlos said. "I-I ruined our dream and you kicked me out of the band."

"Whoa, whoa calm down," Kendall said. "That could never happen, bud. There's no way you could ruin the world tour, and there is no way we would ever kick you out of our band. We could never be Big Time Rush without you. It was just a dream."

Carlos rubbed his forehead and put his face on his knees, hugging them to his chest. "I heard you and Logan talking last night. You guys are so excited about this. Even Logan is, and he's scared of everything. And I've been messing things up since we got here."

"No, you haven't," Kendall insisted. "I'm sure once we get our first concert over with tomorrow night, you'll be back to normal. I bet you're just experiencing nerves and all of that stuff. I wouldn't worry too much about it. And I definitely wouldn't ever kick you out of the band because of it."

Carlos nodded, but he still seemed sad. Kendall wished the younger boy could tell him what was bothering him. Carlos seemed like such a mystery lately, which was very unusual. He was always such an open book but now Kendall had this odd, nagging feeling that he was hiding something from his friends.

"Carlos, if something were wrong, you would tell us, right?" Kendall asked, and Carlos was surprised to hear his voice was unsure for once. He sounded more confused than confident.

"Yeah, of course I would," Carlos said. Kendall smiled and placed a quick, brotherly kiss to his temple.

"Good. You better. Get some sleep, ok buddy?"

Carlos nodded and snuggled back down on his pillow. He smiled comfortably when Kendall tucked his blanket around his shoulders and he watched the blonde retreat to his own bed.

Within moments, Kendall was asleep again. The room was filled with snoring. Carlos sighed and closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep again, but his mind was racing. He puffed out his cheeks with air as he thought of what all of his symptoms were, counting them all off on his fingers. Even though the symptoms came and went, they were all very intense. He remembered how his stomach felt icky and his head hurt. He felt dizzy a lot and was tired even though he had been sleeping a lot. His muscles felt weak and then what happened that night, how his muscles seemed to lose all feeling and then hurt terribly. He felt perpetually weak. Carlos had never felt that last symptom before, and it honestly kind of scared him, because he had no choice but to collapse in front of everybody and could hardly get back up. It was like when your muscles feel all weak and achy when you have the flu, only ten times worse.

Carlos reached his hand up and placed it on his forehead. He wasn't sure what he was feeling for. Logan always said fevers made your muscles feel achy, but Carlos was sure he didn't have a fever, because he didn't feel all shivery yet hot and sweaty, either. His forehead just felt like… Skin. Maybe he was getting sick, with a really bad flu, but it hadn't really hit him yet. He prayed it would stay away long enough for the boys to do their first show tomorrow night, but the thing was was that they had several more shows to play around Europe for the next 3 weeks. No way could he stave off the flu for that long. Carlos frowned, feeling like he wanted to cry. No matter what, he was sure that the All Over the World tour would be all ruined because of him.

The next morning Logan would up very early. The sun was low in the sky, so low it was almost dark. He was sure that the other boys would be asleep, but when he got out of bed he noticed that both Carlos and Kendall's beds were empty and unmade.

"Mornin' sunshine," Kendall said, peeking his head out of the bathroom. He was brushing his teeth and was still in his pajamas.

Logan rubbed his eyes groggily. "Mornin' Kindle," Logan said softly, careful not to wake James, who was still asleep. "What are you doing up so early?" Logan heard Kendall spit in the sink and water running form the faucet before he came out of the bathroom.

"Enh, jetlag is screwing with my system. I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. I guess Carlos is going through the same thing, he was about to leave right when I woke up at about 5 AM."

"Leave? Where is he?" Logan asked. For some reason, he was worried about Carlos being off by himself at the moment. Not just because Carlos was, well, Carlos, on a different continent which would always be cause for worry, but more because of the hyper Latinos sudden difference in behavior. Logan wanted to keep a close eye on him and hopefully call his bluff that he really was sick.

"He went outside to practice his skateboarding," Kendall said. "He seemed lost in thought about something. I don't know, like he's upset, which is really weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's very weird," Logan said distantly.

"He had a nightmare last night, Logan," Kendall said. For a moment he felt kind of guilty for tattling but he felt that Logan should know. "He seemed really disturbed by it, even though it was nothing like his normal nightmares. He said he dreamt that he ruined the world tour and that we kicked him out of the band for it."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "That's odd. He must be dealing with some kind of psycho-sematic stress thinking that he's not good enough for the band or something, probably caused by this whole world tour thing. It's a lot to take in and he's probably feeling overwhelmed."

"Ok, not sure what you just said but… Why would he even think he would ruin the world tour, Logan? He's never had confidence issues before. If anyone can emotionally handle a world tour, it's Carlos because he doesn't care what anyone thinks. Do you think it could be something to do with why he's been acting strange lately?"

Logan shrugged. "I'm just as stumped as you are. But call me crazy, but do you ever think of when Carlos got sick last week? Do you think that maybe he never actually got better?"

"No, I forgot about that," Kendall said. "He was fine all week though. He didn't seem to be sick at all. He didn't start acting weird 'til literally the moment we got here. Like as soon as he got on the plane he suddenly changed from crazy, excited little Carlos to quiet, tired, collapsing-on-stage Carlos."

Logan bit his lip nervously. "I don't know, Kendall. Should we be concerned? Do you think I'm being a worry wart or do you think something might be seriously wrong?"

Kendall was silent for a moment. He didn't want to encourage Logan's anxiety, but he feared that this time Logan really had cause to be worried.

"What are we talking about?" A hoarse voice asked from beneath his blankets on the bed across the room. James kicked off his covers, revealing his wrinkly pajamas and crazy morning hair. He rolled out of bed and stumbled groggily towards the small breakfast table that Kendall and Logan sat at.

"We're talking about Carlos," Logan said as James sat down. The brunette shrieked when he caught site of his hideous appearance on a dresser mirror and hurriedly smoothed down his hair best he could with his hands.

"What about him?" James asked sounding surprisingly serious. His tired hazel eyes suddenly became alert and darted around the apartment. "Is he ok? Where is he?"

"He's outside with his new skateboard," Kendall said, suspicious of James' behavior. "Why did you ask if he's ok?"

James shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "I dunno."

"Why wouldn't he be ok James?" Logan asked. Though his voice was soft and gentle, James couldn't help but feel like he was being interrogated. James always cracked under pressure.

"He got really dizzy and fell last night while we were getting ice," James said so quickly that the words slurred together. "It was like he was drunk or something. He just fell right down like he had a little too much to drink."

Kendall wrinkled his nose. "Carlos is an alcoholic?" That did not sound like Carlos at all.

"No, he's not an alcoholic," Logan said. Well he was pretty sure, anyway. "James, why didn't you tell us this happened?"

"Carlos made me swear not to tell," James said. "You know how he gets with that puppy dog pout, I couldn't say no."

"Did he seem sick at all afterwards?" Logan asked.

"He was pale. I think he was trying to act like he was fine but I don't think he was," James said truthfully. "Do you guys think something's wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm going to go talk to him," Logan said. He pushed out his chair, grabbed a jacket, and went down to the lobby. He scanned the large outdoor terrace for Carlos. Since it was a bit chilly and barely 6 AM yet, it was deserted except for Carlos at the way end. He appeared like a normal teenage boy, struggling to catch his balance while riding back and forth on a skateboard. To an outside eye, there would be no cause for alarm. But something seriously perturbed Logan about this scene.

Memories from Carlos' birthday flashed through Logan's mind, before the birthday party. Carlos was showing off tricks and catching dangerous speed that made Logan's stomach clench just thinking about it. He could grind a rail effortlessly. Carlos was not a rookie skateboarder. He excelled in the sport, as he had been doing it his whole life.

But now, Logan had to watch in horror as Carlos fell off his board time after time. He couldn't get the board steady or set his feet right. Though his effort was apparent, Carlos was unable to keep his balance for more than a second on the board. It was as if he never skateboarded in his life.

For the umpteenth time, Carlos fell off his rather slow moving new skateboard. The board slipped from beneath his feet and he fell to the ground hard right on his butt. Carlos got up unsteadily. His face distorted in frustration and he kicked his skateboard with might, sending the new board flying several feet. The hunk of metal and wood landed with a small crash. Once he got a bit of his anger out on the board, Carlos groaned and sat back down on the cold patio, worn out. His legs were curled Indian style and he ducked his head, wrapping his arms over his head. Logan had enough, he couldn't watch anymore. Carlos just seemed so helpless.

"Hey Carlitos!" Logan said, running towards him. Carlos looked up and Logan saw tears glistening in his eyes. Carlos quickly wiped them away.

"What is it, Logan?" He asked, sounding slightly put-off. Logan realized that he probably was a bit embarrassed since he knew that somebody had caught his skateboard fail.

"Nothing, just came down to say hi," Logan said, plastering a smile on his face and acting like what he just saw didn't scare him shitless. He sat beside Carlos and nudged his knee. "It's a bit cold out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a bit," Carlos said, rubbing his sweatshirt-covered arms. Logan cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Carlos, I saw you trying to skateboard just now. You seemed to be getting pretty frustrated, buddy," Logan said. Carlos cringed, annoyed that he was caught. When the Latino didn't say anything, Logan continued pushing the subject. "You were having some trouble getting your balance. I have seen you skateboard before, dude. But today you look like you never boarded a day in your life."

Carlos immediately resorted to his defenses and snapped at Logan simply because he was unable to give Logan a real answer. "Something's wrong with the trucks, dude! They need to be tightened that's all."

Logan kept his voice level. "It's a brand new board and we had the trucks put on ourselves by a professional. It didn't look loose to me."

Carlos wanted to explode with frustration, but he didn't allow himself to yell at Logan. He didn't deserve it. The brunette was probably just as confused as he was.

Logan put his arm around Carlos when again, he didn't say anything. Carlos leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. Besides feeling embarrassed and confused, his head was hurting again.

"Come on buddy, you need to get some more rest for our show tonight," Logan said, rubbing his shoulder. Carlos nodded, internally grateful that his friend chose not to pester him about what happened.

"I'll be better if I get some sleep, I didn't get any last night," Carlos said, getting to his feet and retrieving his board.

"Yeah, Kendall told me," Logan said, pushing the worry out of his voice. Carlos had waddled clumsily the short distance to the skateboard.

"Carlos, can you walk in a straight line for me?" Logan asked. Carlos shrugged at the weird request and did what he was told. He walked several feet ahead of Logan, turned around, and grinned proudly.

"Was that straight to you?" Logan asked in disbelief. Carlos paled under his friend's gaze. What had he done wrong? Logan was looking at him like he had 3 heads or something and it was making him feel weird.

"Yeah, Logan. Jeez, you sound like a police officer," Carlos said in a "duh" voice, followed by a chuckle. Logan smiled, but it didn't quite reach his scared eyes. Because when Logan asked for Carlos to walk in a straight line, the Latino couldn't. His steps resembled those of a drunken person's after a long, crazy night of partying, but what was even more disturbing was that Carlos didn't even realize it.

**A/N Ennhhh, I am sorry if that sucked! I just… I don't even know. I wasn't even planning on updating today it sorta just happened. I don't know, it's kind of fun to slowly start having his crazy symptoms appear. *watches everybody run to google search and look up mysterious illness'* have fun my monkeys. Hold up, before you get offended, I love monkeys :D but I love squirrels more… So have fun my little squirrels. I need queso ugh.**

**Oh ps I am a squirrel and you are all squirrels and we live in a wonderful squirrely world where nuts are reviews and I would be a very pleased and happy doodle squirrel if you shared your nuts with me, so I can store them in my tree and eat them later and feel your love when I need it. *chitter***


	7. Questions, but no answers

**A/N Hi guys! Sorry for the hideously long wait on this chapter. I think everyone knows this time of year is rip-your-hair-out busy. Thanks so much for every review, read, and favorite from all of you it means so much that you take the time to read my stuff! Enjoy chapter 7!**

It was mid-morning, and Logan watched as Carlos, James and Kendall played a game of jenga, relaxing in a lounge room before they were whisked away to do an interview with the radio station that was promoting their concert that night. They still had 30 minutes before they were scheduled to go on air, and Logan used that time to pull out his laptop and quickly connect to the internet, planning on researching Carlos' symptoms.

The smart boy studied Carlos nervously from across the room. Kendall was teasing the Latino light heartedly for knocking down the jenga tower for the third time in a row. Even though Kendall was laughing and joking about how Carlos needed glasses, Logan could see a flash of concern in his green eyes. This worried Logan the most; that even Kendall and James were unable to ignore Carlos' obvious and startling symptoms. Logan knew he wasn't just over-worrying or being a paranoid little doctor. Anyone could see that something was wrong with Carlos.

Knocking down a jenga tower wasn't exactly a concerning issue, but it was the fact that every time Carlos went to reach for a wooden block, his hand would shake ever so slightly and he would overshoot the distance, resulting in knocking down the tower. It was like he was an old man who had horrible eyesight. But Carlos never had a problem with his eyes before, he always had healthy vision. So it was more than alarming when all of a sudden he showed signs of being badly far-sighted. It was like the teenager lacked all of his hand-eye coordination.

Logan typed in all of the symptoms Carlos was showing. The dizziness, stumbling, lack of coordination, and weakness. He groaned when several websites flashed on the screen with lists of over 2000 possibilities of what could be wrong with Carlos. It was too wide a variety of symptoms. It could be anything.

Logan sighed and sat back in his seat, searching his mind for anything that sounded slightly familiar and matched his symptoms, but he couldn't think of one. Basically all he could think of was a head injury, and that was what a lot of the websites were saying, along with horrific ideas like a brain tumor, which Logan pushed right out of his mind. That couldn't be it. Carlos couldn't have a brain tumor… Could he? Something like that could never happen to a person like Carlitos…

"Hey Logan, you ok over there?" Carlos asked, glancing to where Logan sat curled on the couch with his laptop open. "You look pale."

"Oh yeah I'm fine," Logan said quickly. He shut his laptop a little too harshly and tried to swallow, but his throat felt dry. Carlos smiled a little, but the Latino seemed to pick up that something was wrong. He felt bad because he knew he was worrying Logan more than necessary. They should be carefree and having fun right now, not freaking out over something as trivial as jetlag.

"I think I'm done," Carlos said sadly. "You guys can play without me."

"Wait, Carlos!" James said.

"I'm going to use the restroom," Carlos said. He offered another small smile and his friends watched him stumble awkwardly to the hallway.

"What was that?" James asked softly.

"He knows Logan is researching him," Kendall said. The blonde joined Logan on the couch. "So what did you find? Because I'm only kind of freaking out, dude. He can barely walk. Even I know that can't be just jetlag. It's something more, isn't it?"

Logan sighed and rubbed his forehead. How was he supposed to tell his friends that Carlos could be suffering something far more sinister than jetlag?

"Logan?" Kendall persuaded.

"I don't know," Logan said. His voice was high pitched and stressed. Kendall felt a nervous flutter in his stomach. Logan seemed near tears.

"Logie, what did you find?" Kendall asked slowly.

"Look, I'm sure he's fine, ok? Let's stop thinking about it and just enjoy our world tour. I couldn't really find anything and I'm sure he'll be fine in a couple days," Logan lied quickly. James and Kendall looked at each other, confused.

"And if he's not ok, we'll take him to a doctor," Logan finished.

A knock sounded on the door to the boys' lounge room and an official looking man with a headset peeked in. "Hey boys, just wanted to let you know they need you in the studio to go over a few questions before you guys hit the air."

"Ok, we'll be right there," Logan said stiffly. The man nodded and left the room. "I'm going to go get Carlos, meet you in the studio in a few minutes."

Logan got up briskly and headed to the restroom to get Carlos. He frowned in sympathy when he saw Carlos sitting on the counter, deep in thought.

"Hey buddy," Logan said. "You ready to do the interview?"

Carlos shrugged and looked up at his friend. "Logan, is there something wrong with me? Am I sick?"

Logan's heart broke at the lost, childlike tone in Carlos' voice. He walked over to his small friend and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sure you're fine, 'Litos. I bet it's all linked to stress and being in a new country, right? No need to make a mountain out of a molehill. Let's just have fun and do our concert, and if you feel sick just let me know and I'll take you to a doctor."

"I don't want to go to the doctor," Carlos said with panic in his innocent eyes. The thought of going to a doctor in a different country scared him.

"But he can make you feel better so you can do the rest of the tour," Logan said quickly, trying to comfort the poor boy. "It's not such a bad thing. I want you to tell me the truth, ok? Do you need to see a doctor and get some medicine?"

Carlos thought for a moment. Besides from feeling a bit lightheaded, he wasn't exactly sick at the moment. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal.

"No, I'm okay."

"Are you _sure_?" Logan asked, his eyes begging for the truth. Carlos nodded.

"I swear, Logie."

"Ok, I believe you," Logan said. He reached up and felt Carlos' forehead, but the skin was cool to the touch. This brought Logan a small amount of relief. No fever was good. "What do you say we go get this interview over with?"

"Let's do it," Carlos said with a smile. Logan took the Latino's small wrist in his hand and helped him off of the counter. Carlos lost his footing as the tile walls of the small bathroom spun around him, but he blinked several times and regained his balance.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked, His voice sounded distanced and distorted. Carlos stared at him, confused.

"What?"

"I asked if you're alright," Logan said, annunciating his words carefully. His heart skipped a beat when Carlos still seemed confused.

"Ok, good night," the Latino said with a shrug.

"No, that not what I said… it's not even lunchtime yet," Logan said slowly and carefully. "What… Why did you say that, Carlos?"

Carlos ignored Logan and rubbed his ears. They didn't feel clogged up, but he could hardly make out Logan's words, as if he had a bad ear infection.

"Carlos?" Logan asked again, sounding scared now. "Should I get Kendall and James?"

"Huh? I-I'm ok," Carlos assured him. Logan's voice didn't sound so far away anymore. The sudden clog in his ear went as quickly as it came.

"Does your ear hurt?" Logan asked, watching the way Carlos massaged his ear.

"No," Carlos said. "That was weird. I think I have an ear infection, Logan."

Logan's eyes lit up with realization. Of course, an ear infection! That would explain his fatigue and balance problems! All he would need was a couple of antibiotics and he would be fine.

"Duh! Carlos, you're a genius!" Logan said with a laugh. He was feeling silly that he immediately jumped to conclusions and thought Carlos had a brain tumor. Or maybe he was just in denial that he knew deep down it was something much worse than an ear infection. "Why didn't I think of that? After the radio interview we have a couple hours before soundcheck and meeting fans so I'll take you to the doctor."

"Ok," Carlos said. He wasn't thrilled about having to go to the doctor, but at least Logan didn't seem so scared anymore. He followed Logan to the studio wordlessly. Maybe going to the doctor was a good idea. He was feeling pretty woozy, and the fact that he practically lost his hearing for a minute weirded him out.

The energy level inside the studio was high. All of the DJ's were excited and upbeat, along with the few lucky fans that got to watch the interview. The boys joked along with the DJ's, but Carlos stayed quiet most of the time. His hearing went in and out the entire time. Sometimes he could hear clearly and other times the questions were jumbled, so finally Carlos just decided to stay mostly silent save for the occasional, half-hearted giggle with his friends when they laughed hardily at whatever joke was being made at the time. He didn't even realize one of the DJ's was asking him a question until James nudged him in the ribs.

"Yo, Carlos," James whispered.

"Huh?" Carlos said, snapping back to reality. He had dazed off at some point, thinking about the concert that night and how he would much rather be home in bed rather than up on the stage.

"I just said you're awfully quiet today," a woman DJ said in her English accent. Carlos blushed and nodded.

"He's feeling a little under the weather today," James said for him. Carlos blushed harder while the small studio audience "Awwed" sympathetically.

"I'm fine," the Latino mumbled. He sighed impatiently. When was the interview supposed to be over? He felt like it had been going on for ages.

"You ready to go the doctor?" Logan finally asked. It had only been another 15 minutes but it felt like hours to Carlos. His head was starting to ache a bit.

Carlos mumbled in agreement. Logan frowned, wondering why the Latino suddenly seemed so listless. Even though fans and DJ's were still in the room, he felt Carlos' forehead and neck with the back of his hand, searching for fever. Usually ear infections came with a fever, right?

"I can't tell if you have a temperature or not. You feel cool," Logan said.

"Is he alright?" Kendall asked, taking off his headphones. He was glad the interview was over because Carlos wasn't looking so good.

"I'm taking him to the doctor," Logan said, ignoring answering the question to directly. "You and James stay here and meet the fans. But Carlos needs to be checked out now. I'll meet you guys back at the hotel."

Logan took Carlos' hand and led him out of the studio. Carlos just looked around warily, feeling dizzy and not quite sure what was going on. He just let Logan take him wherever they were going.

Logan flagged down a taxi to take him to the nearest doctor, since he had no idea how to navigate or drive in a foreign city. Carlos curled up against his side as they drove through the crowded streets.

"You ok?" Logan asked, wrapping an arm around Carlos' small body.

"I want to go home, I'm tired," Carlos mumbled. His head lolled onto Logan's shoulder and his eyes drooped close. Logan had a very unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. This behavior was not normal at all.

"Just stay awake for me buddy," Logan said. "We can go to sleep at the hotel, ok?"

"What about the concert?" Carlos asked. His words were slightly slurred and jumbled. Logan looked at him, confused, but decided that it was just because he was tired.

"Don't worry about that right now," Logan said in a hushed voice, running his hand up and down Carlos' arm.

They finally arrived at a doctor. Carlos was even dizzier by now, trying to walk into the office. He clutched onto Logan's arm to use as a crutch. Logan was seriously alarmed by now. He found himself constantly pushing back the thoughts that maybe it was more than just an ear infection. It scared him half to death. What if Carlos was really, really sick? What would they do? They weren't even at home. The thought was too horrible to even imagine.

Logan fidgeted nervously the entire check-up while explaining all of Carlos' symptoms in detail to the doctor, while Carlos stayed just as listless as he had been all afternoon. He barely talked or anything. He just sat on the examining table with his arms wrapped protectively across his middle, letting the doctor poke and prod him, which was very unusual. Carlos always threw some kind of fit at getting his temperature taken.

The check-up seemed to last for hours to Logan. Finally, the doctor turned to Logan to give his diagnosis.

"I'm going to put Carlos on some antibiotics for an ear infection," the doctor told Logan in his thick British accent. The small brunette let out a puff of relieved air.

"So that's all he has Doctor, is an ear infection?"

"I'm not entirely sure," the doctor said. Logan noticed the older man's forehead was slightly crinkled with worry. "I couldn't find any fluids in his ear, but he might just have a deep inner ear infection. But the fact that he doesn't have a temperature confuses me." The man touched Carlos' forehead with a gloved hand, and Carlos flinched away towards Logan. He had had enough of strange people touching him now.

"Well, what else could it be?" Logan asked. "If you think it might be something else, shouldn't you run tests or something?"

"Just give him the antibiotics and if his condition doesn't improve, bring him back in," the man said. Logan felt strange about his instructions. Logan felt as if he was hiding something from him.

"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean you can hide something from me about my best friend. I'm training to be a doctor too and we both know that something is fishy about this 'ear infection.'" Logan noticed that Carlos was rubbing his forehead as if he were developing a headache. Logan frowned and rubbed his back gently.

"Give him the antibiotics and if they don't work, bring him back in son," the doctor repeated, only this time more sympathetically. Logan knew for a fact that he wasn't giving him the full truth, but the young teen had a feeling it was because the doctor didn't know any more than he did.

"Ok… Thanks Doctor," Logan said. He gave Carlos' arm a squeeze. "Come on buddy, let's go take a nap at the hotel."

Carlos nodded distractedly. Logan helped him off the examining table, took the prescription papers, and led him out to the taxi. Carlos was wobbly the entire way. He couldn't walk in a straight line without Logan's assistance, and that scared the crap out of the young doctor, yet he played it off like he wasn't bothered by Carlos' scary condition at all. He didn't want to frighten him if all he really did have was just an ear infection.

"_It's no big deal_," Logan thought to himself. "_Just an ear infection, he'll be better in no time…"_

Carlos slept on the entire drive to the drugstore and to the hotel. He snored as he leaned heavily against Logan. James and Kendall were texting him, asking where he was because they were set for a meet and greet and sound check with their fans in an hour. Logan wasn't sure if Carlos would even be able to join them for the meet and greet.

When they arrived at the hotel, Logan texted James and asked him if he could carry Carlos inside. James was outside and at the taxi in a flash, looking concerned.

"Logan! What did the doctor say?" James asked, reaching inside the taxi to pull out Carlos' limp body. He hoisted him in his arms and cradled him gently to his chest. Carlos didn't even stir.

"Ear infection," Logan said blandly. He tipped the taxi driver and got out of the bright yellow car to follow James up to their room.

James frowned, studying Carlos' peaceful, sleeping face. "He looks pale, Logan."

"I know, bro. I think he's really sick," Logan said. He opened their hotel room door and let James in first. The taller boy headed to Carlos' bed and laid him down carefully onto the soft blankets.

"Carlos?" Kendall asked as soon as they came in. He was surprised to find the young boy was dead asleep, his skin an odd, ashen color. It was weird to see Carlos look sick, since he was always such a dark, caramel color with rosy cheeks. But when he was sick, it was like all of that beautiful color was drained away. "He doesn't look so good…"

"He doesn't feel so good, either," Logan said sadly. He regretted his next words before they even came out, but he felt strongly about them. "Boys, I don't want him out of bed tonight…"

James blinked. "But Logan, tonight is our first concert."

"He can't do it, bro. I'm worried about him. If he pushes himself too much, he might not be able to do any shows at all. He needs to rest tonight," Logan said.

"I agree," Kendall said. "But we can't just perform without him. Gustavo will kill us if we cancel a show already. What are we going to do?"

"Carlos won't let us cancel," Logan said, pushing Carlos' bangs off of his forehead absentmindedly. "We'll have to do it without him."

"No, I can't perform without Carlos there," James said, shaking his head so his long brown hair flopped in his eyes. "That just wouldn't be right. We need him."

"But cancelling isn't an option," Logan said. "Kendall is right. We have thousands upon thousands of fans waiting for us out there. Besides, it's just one show. We're going to have do it without Carlos," Logan said remorsefully.

**A/N Whew so glad that's finished! I'll do my best to update again as soon as I can. Thanks so much for your patience. I know life is busy with prom and everything this weekend, but review? Makes me happy! Love you guys and whoever has prom this weekend, have a magical time I hope it's amazing!**


	8. The Show Must Go On

**A/N Thanks soo much for all of the amazing reviews you all rock so much! This is short, but I thought you guys deserved a double update.**

"Who's going to break the news to him?" Kendall asked softly. The boys had decided to stay in the hotel with Carlos until the last minute, keeping a close eye on the sleeping boy. They were scheduled to leave for the meet and greet in a few minutes, and they still had yet to tell Carlos that he couldn't perform tonight.

"I can't do it," James said. "It would break his heart. I can't see that."

"Why don't you and Logan head downstairs, and I'll tell him," Kendall volunteered. Whenever the going got rough, Kendall was always the one to deal with it.

"Ok," Logan agreed. "Make sure he takes his medicine and drinks something, Kendall. See you in the limo."

Kendall nodded and watched James and Logan leave the room. They were all dressed in some of their nicest outfits with their hair done. It wasn't right that while they were headed to live their dreams, Carlos was stuck in bed.

"Hey Carlos, wake up buddy," Kendall said softly, shaking the small boy's shoulder. Carlos groaned at the interruption and rolled onto his tummy to avoid the shaking, but Kendall just continued. Carlos wished he would stop. His head was pounding and it was making his stomach feel icky.

"Kendall…" Carlos moaned.

"Hey 'Los… You alright?"

Carlos buried his face in the pillow and squeezed his eyes shut. Why did his head hurt so much? It didn't feel this awful went he went to bed. How would he perform with such a bad headache?

Carlos flipped over and sat upright at the thought of the concert. "Kendall! When's the concert? Am I late?"

"Ssh, settle down," Kendall said, pushing Carlos back down on the pillows. Carlos tried to resist, but his head was spinning sickeningly and he had no choice but to fall back against his pillows.

"We're going to be late," Carlos argued weakly. Kendall sighed and rubbed Carlos' shoulder. The little Latino frowned at the remorseful look in Kendall's bright green eyes. "Kendall? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry buddy, but you can't perform tonight. You-dfjghgkslsk," Kendall's words started to sound distorted, just like Logan's had earlier that day.

Carlos blinked and slowly sat up, leaning forward so he could hear Kendall better. His heart pounded in fear and confusion. He could see the blonde's lips moving, but the words coming out sounded like a jumbled mess. They made no sense at all. It was as if he were listening to somebody speak in a foreign language, or as if a record was playing backwards. It was absolutely terrifying.

"…Did you hear me, Carlos? Carlos? Hey, buddy?" Kendall repeated, waving his hand in front of Carlos' eyes. The younger boy barely seemed to process his hand motioning back and forth in front of him until he blinked suddenly, as if waking up from some weird trance.

"Wh-what?" Carlos asked. Kendall's voice was back to normal again, strangely enough.

"I said I think you need to sit this one out, kiddo," Kendall said slowly. "Dude, are you sure you're ok? What just happened?"

"A-are you saying I have to miss the concert?" Carlos asked, Ignoring Kendall's question. His eyes immediately started welling up with tears. Kendall looked away from his wet, chocolate brown eyes, his heart shattering into a million little pieces. "But Kendall! I can't just skip a concert! Please don't make me stay here, I am fine, I can perform!"

"Carlos, I know you're not feeling well," Kendall said calmly. "I'm really sorry. We've discussed it and we'll cover for you buddy."

Carlos rolled back onto his stomach, too angry to face Kendall. Hot tears poured out of his eyes and stained his pillow. Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy to argue with Kendall, especially when he knew his big brother was right. He was too ill to sing and dance to thousands of fans.

"Gustavo is going to hate me."

"No, he won't dude," Kendall said. "He'll understand. He saw you collapse the other night. People get sick, and sometimes it happens at the worst times possible but if you just rest like you're supposed to, you'll be better in no time."

Carlos sniffled. His tiny shoulders quaked and Kendall massaged them sweetly.

"Don't cry, Carlos…" Kendall pleaded. "I hate seeing you cry, buddy."

"I'm sorry, Kendall."

"Why are you sorry?" Kendall asked. Carlos didn't answer, so Kendall gently eased the upset boy onto his back and pulled him into his lap with a sigh. "Come on, look at me. Why are you sorry?"

"Because I'm ruining the world tour already," Carlos said. He rested his head on Kendall's shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. He felt better in Kendall's arms despite his pounding headache. Kendall always had this way of making him feel safe.

"No, no you're not. Don't say that, bro. It's not your fault you got sick. As much as it hurts to go up on that stage without my little bro, I'd feel much better knowing you're resting in bed. Your health is what's most important. We don't want to perform without you, buddy. Just say the word and we'll cancel the show right now."

"No, we can't do that to the fans, Kendall. I can't do that to you guys. We have been dreaming about this all year and I won't t-" Carlos suddenly froze in mid-sentence, raising his hand to his temple. A sudden jolt of pain wracked his brain and he winced, breathing sort of heavily.

"'Los? Are you ok?" Kendall asked in a panicked voice as he watched Carlos go completely silent and as white as a sheet, a look of intense pain etched on his baby face. Kendall didn't know what to do. He never witnessed Carlos, or anybody for that matter, in so much distress. He wondered if Carlos was maybe suffering a migraine.

"Do you want me to get Logie?" Kendall asked. He hoped to God that Carlos would say yes because he was at a loss on how to help his friend. But a couple seconds went by, and Carlos shook his head as his features relaxed, the pounding in his head starting to fade.

"N-no, I'm ok. Just a little headache," Carlos said sheepishly.

"It didn't seem like just a little headache," Kendall said doubtfully. "You were really hurting."

Carlos ignored him and lied down in his soft bed. He briefly wished he was in his own familiar bed at home. This one didn't provide the same comfort he craved when he was sick. And even though he dreaded being left alone when his head hurt so much, he knew Kendall had to get to the venue or else Gustavo would be even more pissed.

"Let me know how the concert goes?"

"Of course buddy," Kendall said. "Oh, here I need you to take some medicine. It will make you feel better in no time." The blonde took out a pill from a small orange bottle and gave it to him with a bottle of water. Carlos took the medicine with no objections and snuggled under the covers.

"Good night 'Litos. If you need us, call Kelly. I don't care if we are in the middle of the show, ok? If you don't feel good you call us and we will be here in three seconds."

Carlos nodded miserably as Kendall tucked his small friend in and ran his long fingers through his hair.

"Love you, 'Los. It's not gonna be the same without you bro."

Carlos held back another round of tears that he felt burn at the back of his eyes. He mumbled an "I love you too," and watched sadly as Kendall left for their first international tour without him.

**A/N Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are flowers. Love ya guys! Oh and before I forget, major shout out to asdfghjklblah for actually guessing part of what is wrong with Carlos! I'm so proud of my smart lil' Caitee! **


	9. break down

**A/N Sorry I haven't updated this one in so long, life has been sort of sdkveioghebrrawr. Plus I swear I wrote this chapter forever ago but… I can't find it! So I had to rewrite it. Sigh. Hope it's worth the wait?**

The concert went well, but it felt so strange to Kendall, James and Logan. Carlos was one of the biggest energy factors they had and to not have him on stage just didn't feel right. And even though they tried to have put their heads into the performance, a huge part of them couldn't help but to wonder how Carlos was doing back at the hotel. Mostly, the boys felt like there was a big hole torn in the concert, like there was a missing piece, and that was the truth. Carlos was a very important and beloved piece of the band and their friendship. It just wasn't the same without their Carlitos.

"I'm worried about Carlos," James admitted while running a towel over his sweat-soaked forehead, drying his bangs. He spoke the minds of all three of them. The show was finally over, and after their bows they had run backstage to get ready to go back to the hotel as soon as possible.

"I'm sure he's fine," Logan said half-heartedly. To be honest, he didn't believe his own words. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his belly, telling him something was not right.

The drive back to the hotel was spent in anxious silence. Usually after a show the guys were bouncing off the walls, an unstoppable force of obnoxious energy that lasted well into the early morning hours, but tonight they were the exact opposite.

Once they arrived at the hotel, Kendall burst out of the limousine and ran to the large glass double doors with Logan and James right behind him. He didn't even bother to wait for the doorman to open the doors for him. He just stormed right on through, taking the tuxedo-wearing man by surprise. They ignored the "no running" rules and sprinted up the grand staircase two at a time.

"Ssh," Logan warned before turning the knob to their room slowly. He pushed open the door as quietly as he could to find the room in complete darkness.

"Hey boys," A woman's voice whispered. A dim table lamp turned on and Kelly, who had offered to stay with Carlos during the concert to keep an eye on him, smiled at them warmly.

"How is he?" Kendall asked, tip-toeing to Carlos' bed. He could see a small lump and a tuft of black hair hidden beneath a warm layer of blankets. Surprisingly enough, Carlos was fast asleep. Kendall breathed a sigh of content that his friend seemed to be fine for the moment and all of his fears during the concert were relieved.

"He's been sleeping this whole time," Kelly told them, stroking the bangs off of Carlos' forehead. The sleeping boy smacked his lips but did not wake from his unusually deep sleep.

"Good, maybe he's finally sleeping off whatever is getting him so down," Logan said hopefully. The boys had a signing at the mall tomorrow and he knew Carlos had been looking so forward to the event, and he did not want to miss it.

"He's starting to feel a little bit warm to me," Kelly said, pressing her palm to Carlos' forehead. Logan frowned and felt the Latino's forehead and neck.

"Poor kid, he's definitely running a low fever," Logan said.

"It's like he's trying to fight off the inevitable or something," Kelly said. "Whatever bug he's got is going to hit him hard. My vote is to keep him in bed the next few days so that it isn't too debilitating when it does hit. That means it will be three time rush again for a while, but it's better than having him too sick for the entire tour."

"Carlos won't like it, but if it means he gets better, I'll do anything," Kendall said. "Thanks for watching him, Kelly."

"No problem boys," the young woman said sweetly. "Let me know if he gets worse through the night, ok? Good night."

The boys said their "good nights" to Kelly and each got ready for bed to face another long day tomorrow.

Carlos was having the strangest dream of his life. It was frightening and weird, all at the same time. It started out wonderful, though. He had gotten to go onstage for his band's first ever overseas show, and he wasn't sick at all! But then, the entire audience of cute fan girls slowly turned into these terrifying, revolting aliens and rushed the stage. Kendall, Logan and James were sucked up by their huge tentacles in just a moment's time, and then they all slowly slithered towards Carlos. He tried to run, but one slimy gray alien jumped on his back and pushed him down. He fell off the stage and suddenly an entire swarm of the nasty creatures were on him, wrapping their tentacles around his head and squeezing so hard it made his brain throb. This seemed to continue on for what seemed like hours and hours. They kept squeezing harder and harder, and his brain hurt more and more, until finally someone saved him from the inescapable torture by shaking his shoulder and calling his name repeatedly.

"Carlos! Hey, wake up little buddy. You alright?"

Carlos moaned and rolled off of his belly to curl up on his side. He opened his eyes to see James sitting beside him, concern showing in his bright hazel orbs. Carlos scooted closer to James and let the older boy rub his back for a few comforting moments. His head hurt worse than it ever had before, and he was still so drowsy, he just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Buddy… What's the matter?" James asked soothingly. "You were whimpering in your sleep. I've been trying to wake you up for ages."

"Nightmare," Carlos answered hoarsely. He scrubbed a hand over his face and sat up slowly, ignoring the dizziness that overcame him when he finished the movement. He rubbed his forehead, trying to gather his thoughts, which seemed to be moving very slowly. It was a bit difficult to form a coherent thought, similar to when one is suffering from a very high fever. But Carlos didn't feel very feverish.

"Whoa, look who's up," Logan sang out fondly. The pale boy galloped to Carlos bed and ruffled his hair affectionately. Carlos winced. He usually loved when Logan used his rare, cheery voice, but today it only hurt his head, sending what felt like little tiny knives into his brain.

"How…How was the concert?" Carlos asked slowly. He was curious to know how the show went on with only three band members.

"It sucked without you," Kendall said, joining the powwow on Carlos' bed and nudging the sick boy lightly. Carlos looked up to see Kendall's famous grin stretching ear to ear and his eyes shining. Carlos just gave a tiny, dull smile and rolled out of bed.

"I'm going to go take a shower," the Latino announced. He hoped his friends couldn't notice that he was swaying on his feet, struggling to steady his vertigo-stricken mind.

"Oh, ok," Kendall said, his grin fading a bit when Carlos hadn't responded the way he had hoped. He watched the shorter boy stumble dizzily to the bathroom.

Carlos grabbed his suitcase and quickly shut the bathroom door. He could feel all eyes just bearing into him, analyzing his health the entire time he was in the room and it made him feel uncomfortable. No matter how badly he wanted to, Carlos was having a very hard time hiding the fact that he was sick.

"_I do not want to miss any of the tour and force the boys to worry about me the whole time,_" Carlos said beneath his breath. He opened his suitcase and scoured through the heap of clothes and random objects that Mrs. Knight packed for him. There was his teddy bear, in case he got lonely. His favorite CD's in case he got bored. And, in a ziplock baggie, was a collection of pills she had packed him. Mostly there was just cold medicine and vitamins, but there was also his medicine for his infamous seasickness, just in case they decided to go on a boat during the world tour for recreational purposes. Out of all the boys, Carlos was most prone to the worst cases of seasickness. He would always get horrible vertigo and then throw up. He hoped that the medicine would have the same effect on his dizziness now, even though he was on dry land rather than a boat.

After swallowing the pill down with a cup of water, Carlos sat on the toilet for a moment and rested, feeling weak and dizzy. He stayed there for several minutes, when he finally felt well enough to stand up and run a hot shower. He undressed from his warm, sweaty pajamas and stepped underneath the pulsing stream of water, letting it wash over his damp and sticky skin. He stayed still for 15 minutes, just enjoying the feeling of the hot water. With every minute that passed, he felt a bit better. After the long shower, he dressed in gray skinny jeans, a soft cotton red t-shirt and plastered a smile on his face. He was determined to enjoy this day with his buddies, and he was thankful for feeling better than he had since he arrived in London. The dizziness was still there, but it wasn't overpowering, and his nausea was gone completely. The only thing that stuck around was his sleepiness and headache.

With cheeks flushed red from the hot water, Carlos padded barefoot out of the bathroom to greet his friends. This time, they were the ones who looked solemn, slumped in their respectful chairs while chewing on granola bars, mindlessly watching some British television program that wasn't funny in the least, even though it was meant to be a sitcom.

"Hey guys," Carlos greeted happily.

"Hey, Carlos," Kendall said suspiciously. His friend who had looked sick and depressed just a half hour ago was now back to his bright and sun-shiney self again. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah! I feel much better. When are we leaving?"

Logan and Kendall exchanged a look that Carlos didn't miss. The Latino felt his stomach drop a bit.

"Buddy, we all think you should take a couple days to rest up," Logan said. "Even Kelly agrees, and Gustavo has no choice to agree with Kelly. Your fans will understand, they know you have been under the weather. I don't think you should go to the signing today."

"But I'm feeling better, Logie. Look, I'm smiling!" Carlos argued, pointing to his smile which he forced to stay on his cheeks even though he felt disappointed and a little offended that they wouldn't let him come with. He did not want to fight with Logan. When the JR doctor made up his mind about an issue concerning their health he was very hard to dissuade.

"I know, and that's great," Logan said, smiling warmly at Carlos. "But I want you to stay feeling better. You need to fight whatever bug or virus that you were hit with."

"I swear I'm feeling ok though," Carlos said. "Please don't make me miss the signing. If I don't feel good I promise I'll tell you and you can make me go back to the hotel and go to bed for as long as you want me too. Please?"

Logan sighed, finding Carlos' puppy dog eyes hard to resist.

"Fine, but I have my eye on you. The moment I even think you aren't ok, you are coming back here, ok?" Logan said firmly. He approached Carlos and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. "You're still a little warm."

"No big deal though, right? I mean I'm not burning up, I'm not puking my guts out. Wouldn't you say I'm fine?" Carlos said optimistically.

"You are not fine," Logan said. "But I guess you can do the signing."

"Thank you Logie!" Carlos exclaimed. He hugged his little friend tightly, followed by James and Kendall. Carlos was just glad his friends were treating him somewhat normally again, even though his head still hurt. He knew he could ignore it for his band and his fans though.

Logan kept his promise and watched Carlos carefully all day long. He could tell he was feeling better, but something was off about the littler boy. He still had trouble walking in a straight line and he stumbled over his words a lot. Once in a while he would rub his temples as if he had a headache, but he would give Logan a smile and act like he was perfectly fine every time he caught the worried doctor watching him. But what was weird was that Carlos wasn't acting outright sick, not until late in the afternoon.

They had been at the signing for a couple of hours when Carlos became very quiet. He was pale and withdrawn. He would hardly even smile at the fans. Kendall and James noticed this too. After every autograph they signed, they would glance at Carlos and get a sick feeling in their stomachs because he didn't seem ok at all. He just stared out into space, a faraway look in his brown, doe-like eyes. His face wore a mask of pain. Logan wondered what in the world was going on inside Carlos to make him act this way.

"Buddy, are you alright?" Logan asked, touching Carlos' arm lightly with his fingertips. This scared the Latino, sending him jumping in his seat.

"Oh, fine. Just a bit woozy," Carlos mumbled, refusing to look at Logan. He stared at his feet, willing the dizziness overtaking his body to go away. The medicine was wearing off and he felt worse than ever now. His stomach churned and his head throbbed. Even though he was only sitting down, he had a terrible case of vertigo, worse than he ever experienced on any boat before. His arms, hands and feet were trembling slightly and his hearing was muffled again.

Carlos was scared to death.

"Dude, hey, she wants an autograph… Dude!"

Carlos snapped back to reality. He hadn't even realized that he had dazed off and was ignoring a waiting fan. James was staring at him, freaked out. The young girl was also staring at him, looking a bit nervous and weirded out. Carlos tried to smile, but failed, and picked up his silver marker to sign a headshot of himself.

But as soon as he put the marker to the photo, his hand started to shake wildly. He tried to sign his name but the marker skidded across the paper. No matter how much he willed his hand to stay steady so he could sign his autograph, he just couldn't. He could not form a C with his marker. He could not sign his own name.

Carlos blinked back a tear and handed the scribbled on photo back to his fan, staring at his feet. The fan stood dumbfounded for a moment, unsure if she should be concerned, before thanking him and walking away. Carlos glanced to his friends to make sure they didn't see that humiliating moment, but they were each wrapped up in talking to their fans.

Carlos didn't want to sign autographs anymore. He didn't feel good, and the next few fans that approached him left with a scribble instead of a neatly handwritten name.

"How are you feeling, 'Los?" Logan asked a few minutes later. Carlos was in his own little world again, pretty much ignoring his fans and surroundings. He kept his arms folded across his chest as to hide the course trembling that was taking over his limbs.

Carlos considered telling Logan to get him out of here, take him home so he could sleep, but decided against it. He would fine, he was sure of it.

"I'm ok," Carlos replied slowly, blinking a couple of times before staring off into space again. Logan frowned, not buying into his answer.

"Dude you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong?" Logan asked. Even though Logan was whispering, Carlos could feel all of his fans watching him, concerned. It was obvious Carlos' behavior was strange. His cheeks heated up and his heart sank with embarrassment. It was like everyone knew he was sick and acting funky. He didn't like this attention at all.

"I need…" Carlos started, but he lost his train of thought and a throb of pain resonated through his skull. He rubbed his forehead and cringed before trying to speak again. His mind felt cloudy again like it had that morning.

"You need what, Carlos?" Logan asked, putting a hand on Carlos' back, which was heaving with each breath he took. A layer of sweat formed on the sick boy's forehead. Carlos shook his head and stood up. He stumbled backwards and his fans all gasped. Logan said something but Carlos couldn't understand the muffled words, while James reached out to steady him. Carlos wormed out of James' grasp.

"Carlitos, what's wrong buddy? You're not acting right and you don't look so good," Kendall said, standing up as well. He had no idea that Carlos couldn't even understand what he was saying. The Latino stood there like a deer in the headlights, trying to make out the words his friends were telling him. Finally, he took several steps back and nearly fell. The crowd gasped again but Carlos regained his balance and ran out of the room suddenly, resembling a drunk man with a peg for a leg.

As soon as he was out of the crowded room, Carlos burst into tears. He held his aching stomach and looked around to see where he had run too. He was in the back room of a store in the mall that they were doing the signing in, and in the way back was a single bathroom. Carlos stumbled over to the bathroom and collapsed onto the grimy tile floor, his stomach churning and head pounding. Hot tears poured down his cheeks as he positioned himself over the toilet, waiting for the inevitable to happen. With a particularly painful heave, his stomach emptied all its contents into the white porcelain structure in front of him. When it was over, he flushed the toilet and curled up in the corner of the bathroom with his knee's to his chest, sobbing. He was vaguely aware of warm, strong arms wrapping around his shaking frame and holding him tightly.

"God, Carlos. You're shaking so hard," Kendall said. His voice was muffled but Carlos understood his words. His hearing was back after temporarily leaving him again. Carlos was confused and scared at this symptom. He was afraid he was going deaf. That's what it felt like.

"Kendall… I don't feel well," Carlos whimpered. He looked up to see James and Logan kneeling in front of him, pale with fear and concern.

"What hurts, Carlos?" Kendall asked, breathless from panic and running after his ill friend. He ran his long fingers through Carlos' dark trusses of hair soothingly. Logan leaned over and felt his forehead for a fever.

"I… Something's wrong with me. My head hurts," Carlos admitted. "I'm so dizzy. I-I… Sometimes I can't even hear. It's like I'm going deaf. I can barely walk I'm so dizzy. I can't sign my own name. Guys I'm scared. I've been sick since we got here and I just wanna get better. I want to go home!"

Logan looked horrified when Carlos revealed the symptoms that he didn't even know were happening to his innocent friend. The gears in his doctor-trained mind stared turning a million miles a minute as more panic set in. His motor skills were deteriorating, he was woozy and sick… Something was terribly wrong. Carlos continued to cry as Kendall held him and James rubbed his back. The two older boys looked helplessly at Logan for answers.

"He's sick, guys. We can't do this anymore," Logan said, and they knew exactly what he meant. They nodded remorsefully.

Suddenly, Carlos' shaking body heaved violently. Logan knew what was happening and hauled his small body to the toilet, where he vomited once more.

"Oh my God," James said, horrified and sad for Carlos. All he could do was rub his quivering back and hope it brought him some sort of comfort.

"I want my mommy," Carlos whimpered when he was through throwing up. James' heart broke at this and he brought him into his strong arms.

"It's ok, buddy. It's going to be ok," James said. Logan cupped Carlos' chin with his hand and looked him straight in his dark, pain-stricken eyes.

"You'll see your mom, lil' bro. We're taking you home," Logan assured him. Carlos looked relieved at this, but still sobbed. They all knew what this meant, and it was the toughest decision of their lives. "The world tour is over."

**A/N Blahh I hope that was okay. Is the All Over the World Tour, all over? Will Carlos ever be the same again? Haha sorry I am dramatic tonight. Tell me what you think in a review! Thank you for reading! Hugs and kisses! **


	10. Agony

**A/N Slowly but surely, I am **_**trying**_** to catch up on all my stories (of course I was stupid and actually started two new ones, check em out if you haven't already and let me know what you think, they are called 'Brotherhood of the Lost' and 'Armor'!) but so far I think I am on a roll! Deteriorate is next on my update list so here ya gooooo! WOOHOO ;) PS thanks for every single review last chapter omg I got so many and it makes me so happy!**

**ENJOY **

The boys were still in the small bathroom thirty minutes later. They had stayed there in a clustered heap with their arms secured around each other tightly. Carlos, James and Logan were gathered in Kendall's lap, and the blonde had the only dry eyes in the room. It pained Kendall to hold in the tears that begged for release, but he felt he had to be the strong one. So as his younger brothers cried, he rocked them and kissed their heads and rubbed their backs to comfort them.

The boys were mourning the world tour in the back of their minds, but all of their tears were shed for Carlos. To say they were scared was an understatement. None of the boys had ever been so sick before, and there was an unsettling feeling in each of their stomachs that something serious could be underlying Carlos' illness, and they didn't know how to handle that.

Kendall had called Mrs. Knight and begged her to come get them. She promised her distraught son over the phone that she would rid the crowds at the mall and come to their rescue asap. Finally, she burst through the door to the bathroom to find her boys on the gray tile floor. Their eyes were red-rimmed with tears and exhaustion, but Carlos looked the worst. She had to hold back a gasp at the sight of the smallest boy, who was a pale white and leaned against his friends for support, as if he couldn't sit up on his own, and his usually sparkling brown eyes were glassy and unfocused.

"Oh my God, Carlos…" The motherly woman said, kneeling next to the small boy and placing a delicate hand on his warm forehead. Carlos leaned into her arms and she embraced him, rocking him gently.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She asked him desperately.

"Don' feel good, Mama K," Carlos slurred against her chest.

"Boys, how long has he been sick like this?" Mrs. Knight asked. The boys' cheeks turned red with shame and none of them wanted to speak up.

"He said he didn't feel good on the plane ride here, so I guess a few days now?" Logan said sheepishly. He felt guilty, but how could they have known that Carlos was seriously ill?

Mrs. Knight did not look too happy. "How could you boys keep this a secret from me? When one of you is sick I expect the others to look out for the sick one by telling me so it doesn't turn into something this bad!"

"Sorry Mama K," James said sadly, tears prickling at his hazel eyes. "We had no idea he would get so sick… But Mama K we want to cancel the world tour. We just want Carlos to get better now. I'm scared."

"Oh honey, it's going to be ok," Mrs. Knight said tenderly, realizing that now was not the time to scold her boys. James had started to sob and she opened up an arm, beckoning him to come in for a cuddle. James practically flew into her embrace and held her tightly with one arm, while wrapping his other arm around Carlos. "We'll talk about the tour once we get back from the doctor, ok? One step at a time. Gustavo is going to get you boys back to the hotel for some rest while I take him to the ER."

"No mom, we want to come, too! Please!" Kendall said. He couldn't stand the suspense if he was forced to sit in a hotel room while his little brother was in the hospital.

"I really think you need to go home and keep Logan and James calm," Mrs. Knight said, gesturing to the two brunettes. James was still clinging to Mrs. Knight like a small child and Logan was sitting on the floor with his knees up to his chest, his little chin quivering as he watched Carlos worriedly.

"But mom," Kendall said. Mrs. Knight reached over and squeezed her green-eyed son's hand.

"Honey, you need to listen to me and do as I say. You guys have taken care of Carlos enough, you did everything you could. It's mom's turn ok?"

Kendall reluctantly agreed with his mother. He could tell by her tone of voice that there was going to be no more arguing.

"Sweetheart, help me get Carlos off the floor and to the car please," Mrs. Knight told her son. She was scared for Carlos but tried to stay as calm as possible. Kendall nodded and placed his hands beneath Carlos' armpits.

"You ready to go see the doctor?" Kendall asked Carlos as he lifted his light body off the ground. Carlos was about to say something, but as soon as he was to his feet, a sharp pain resounded through his skull and he literally screamed in agony, clutching his forehead and falling against Kendall's chest.

"Carlos? What's wrong?" Kendall asked worriedly, clutching the screaming boy to his chest. He looked up to his bewildered mom for help. "Mom, why is Carlos screaming?"

Mrs. Knight grabbed Carlos' arms tightly and looked into his pain-filled eyes. "Carlos, talk to us baby, you need to tell us wrong baby."

"It hurts," Carlos whimpered. He was crying now, big wet tears streaming down his cheeks, which were turning redder with each scream he let out. James scooted towards Logan and put an arm around him, because he looked absolutely terrified now.

"Mom, he can hardly stand on his own," Kendall said. "Th-this happened before, during our dress rehearsal, he couldn't stand up!"

Mrs. Knight looked panicked. She reached into her pocket and handed Kendall her cell phone and the keys to her rental car. "Kendall, give Carlos to me ok? I need you to call for an ambulance, and then you're going to take Logan and James back to the hotel."

Kendall nodded. He felt like his mind was in robot mode now, and did whatever his mother told him to, because he was completely lost now. He gave Carlos to Mrs. Knight and watched as she slowly lowered him to the floor, rubbing his back and whispering soothing words of comfort to keep him calm.

Kendall called the hospital and told them to send an ambulance. Mrs. Knight gestured to James and Logan, who were still huddled on the floor silently. Kendall nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to leave, but he trusted his mother.

"Ok mom, call us as soon as possible, please," Kendall said, getting to his knees and wrapping his arms around her neck. Mrs. Knight kissed her sons cheek sweetly.

"It's going to be ok, honey. Get some rest and take care of your brothers."

"Bye mom," Kendall said. He tousled Carlos' hair with his fingers, than touched the crying boy's cheek gingerly. He looked so fragile and ill. It made Kendall feel sick inside. "It'll be alright, Carlos. Mom's going to take care of you, ok? I love you Carlos."

Carlos barely seemed to hear Kendall's words. He was so far away, like he was lost in his own world of pain. Kendall sighed and willed himself to focus on James and Logan. He took their hands, hauling them off of the floor. Without saying a word, he led the two younger boys through the mall. Kelly and Gustavo had gotten the crowds cleared away for their privacy, so they made it quickly and safely to the car.

The ride back to the hotel was silent. James sat in the front seat while Logan was curled up in the back. Every once in a while, the pretty boy would open his mouth as if he were about to ask Kendall a question, but he'd quickly shut it, realizing Kendall was just as confused and scared as he was.

In the hotel room, Logan and James sat at their small kitchenette table, fidgeting with their hands and shaking their legs nervously. Kendall went about fixing dinner, which was basically just microwaving spaghettio's and pouring apple juice into cups. He just had to stay busy.

Once dinner was on the table, spoons swirled absent-mindedly in the circle shaped noodles and bright red sauce, but not a bite was taken. Their focus was on their cell phones, praying that Mrs. Knight would text or call soon, but the minutes ticked by and there was no word from the hospital.

"You guys should eat before the food gets cold," Kendall mumbled. "You need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry," James said, almost like a defiant five year old would.

Kendall forced himself to take a bite of spaghettio's, but it didn't taste very good at all. He didn't have any appetite, and he felt like he might throw up if he forced any more food down.

Wordlessly, Kendall cleared all the dishes from the table. He poured their untouched apple juices down the sink and tossed their dinner into the trash. James and Logan watched him, concerned. They worried he might be angry at them. But when Kendall was finished, he offered them a small smile and lied down on his bed. Logan and James exchanged glances and joined Kendall on the bed, silently asking for permission. Kendall scooted over and patted the bed, motioning for them to huddle with him.

James grabbed the remote for the television and put on cartoons for distraction, but the boys didn't pay much attention. They watched their cell phones anxiously and thought about how Carlos was doing.

Logan sniffled sometimes. Every time Kendall would look over to the small boy, his cheeks would turn bright red and he'd quickly swipe his tears away, pretending like he wasn't crying even though it was obvious he was. Kendall decided to save his dignity and not call him out on his tears. He would just squeeze his knee lightly and turn his attention back onto the television.

"When's your mom going to call, Kendall?" James finally asked. "It's been two hours."

"I don't know!" Kendall said a bit too loudly. He must have sounded frustrated or something, because James recoiled and his cheeks flushed a light pinkish color.

James rolled out of bed and grabbed his backpack before Kendall had a chance to apologize.

"I'm taking a shower," he mumbled, and his long legs stomped to the bathroom. The door slammed shut, making Kendall and Logan jump.

The silence was beginning to get awkward. Logan rolled onto his side and closed his exhausted eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to get an ounce of sleep in, but he felt like he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and he was desperate for some rest.

Several minutes later, Kendall was wondering what was taking James so long to come out of the shower. Logan thought he heard odd, high-pitched noises coming from behind the closed door. The brunet rolled over to face Kendall and shook his knee gently to get his attention.

"What's up buddy?" Kendall asked.

"Do you hear that?" Logan asked in a hushed voice. "It… It sounds like crying coming from the bathroom."

Kendall frowned and shut off the television so he could listen carefully. Logan was right. It sounded like there was a hurt animal or something in the bathroom.

"James!" Kendall called, getting to his feet and running the short distance to the bathroom. He knocked on the door, but James didn't answer. Kendall tried the handle and pushed it open with relief when he found it to be unlocked. He quietly walked into the bathroom, feeling his heart breaking into a million different pieces when he saw James sobbing helplessly on the floor in his jammie pants and a soft sweatshirt.

Logan was right behind Kendall, a hand gripping his shoulder shyly. He whispered James' name sadly when he saw how broken his friend looked. He let go of Kendall and rushed to James' side, immediately taking him into his short arms and stroking his long, damp brown hair.

"Jamie what happened?" Kendall asked softly, getting to his knees in front of the brunet. He took James' clammy hand in his and squeezed it.

"I can't stop thinking about him guys," James admitted. "He looked so sick and he was screaming, Kendall. We couldn't do a thing to help him. We've barely even tried to help him even though he was so obviously sick these past few days. We were so caught up in the tour, that we couldn't see something was seriously wrong with our baby brother."

"James, no, it's not our faults," Logan said sympathetically, but he felt a little guilty too. "We thought he was fine. We didn't realize how sick he was."

"We _should_ have," James said remorsefully. He ran a shaky hand through his wet locks. His breaths were deep and unsteady, like he was about to lose it any minute now.

"What if he has cancer, guys?" James cried suddenly, speaking the unspoken fears of everyone in the room. His voice broke with a sob, and Kendall leaned over to hug his friend. "What if something is wrong with his brain? He can hardly walk or talk and his headaches are excruciating. What else can it be? I just… He can't have cancer, Kendall. He's just a baby. He doesn't deserve it."

"We don't know if it's cancer," Logan said, rubbing his fingertips against James' back. "We can't start freaking out over what we don't know yet."

"I want Carlos back and I want to go home," James said. "I can't stand to see him sick, guys. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Hey, hey look at me," Kendall said, pulling James away from his chest so he could look him and Logan in the eyes. "The only thing we can do is stay strong and keep it together for Carlos, no matter what we hear when that phone rings. Whatever is going on with him, he needs us now more than ever. So we are going to cry our eyes out and keep our tears in this bathroom, so when we get to that hospital, we can be strong for him."

"But I'm scared, Kendall," James said, gripping Kendall's shirt tightly.

"I am too Jamie," Kendall said. He carefully untangled James' fingers from his shirt and held his hand again. Tears he had been trying so hard to keep welled up and stung at his eyes, and he let out a loud sob, startling Logan and James.

"It's ok, Kendall. It's ok to cry," Logan said. The younger boy crawled into Kendall's lap and clung onto his neck. That was all Kendall needed to let go. Once he was with Carlos, he would go back to being strong and fearless Kendall again, but for now, in Logan and James' arms, he cried.

And then the phone rang.

**A/N Sorry! Cliffhanger cause I am a horrible person. Jk, I'm really not a horrible person, I just have to go to work now! Thank you for reading. Reviews make me the happiest girl on earth. They really do. So if you can, drop me one and I'll love you forever! I hope you liked it!**

**PS, it's totally the one year anniversary of meeting my boys! A year ago today I was anxiously and excitedly waiting at the airport for hours with butterflies in my tummy just for the chance of seeing my hero's! And right when I was about to give up and leave, thinking I was silly for ever expecting to meet them, they literally just appeared and walked straight up to me and introduced themselves, cracking jokes and being adorable, normal boys. Best day ever. I can't believe it's been a year :')**


	11. Speech

**A/N Guess what? DOUBLE UPDATE. Just because I love you guys so much and your reviews are awesome. THANKS SO MUCH! xoxoxoxoxoxo**

**Oh, and Carlos' speech is starting to deteriorate in this... It's hard to explain, but imagine his voice is slow and deliberate, he slurs alot, and it's bit unsteady in volume. Basically, he is having a hard time articulating his words. You'll find out why soon enough.**

_It's not cancer… It's not cancer…_

Three words that meant so much repeated themselves over and over in Kendall's mind. It was two o' clock in the morning. Several hours had passed since his mother had called with tears in her voice, assuring the boys that Carlos did not have a brain tumor, although the doctors weren't quite sure what was wrong with him yet, because the MRI'S showed nothing abnormal. The doctors were baffled, Carlos was getting sicker, and his condition was, so far, a complete and utter mystery. They felt like they couldn't be relieved that it wasn't a brain tumor, because something just as bad or worse could be what was putting Carlos through so much pain.

James was passed out in the bed next to Kendall after crying himself to sleep. Logan was on the other bed with his laptop, eagerly typing in symptoms as he researched Carlos' illness. Every once in a while he would groan in frustration, but he was determined to find what was wrong with Carlos, even though his eyes were puffy with dark, tired circles beneath them.

"Logie, you should go to sleep before you get yourself sick," Kendall said. He gently removed James' head from his shoulders, quietly got up from bed, and headed over to Logan.

"I don't see you sleeping either," Logan said, his eyes glued to the blue computer screen. He hardly noticed Kendall sitting next to him on the bed, peering over his shoulder to read what he was researching.

"True enough," Kendall said. "Have you found anything so far?"

"The closest thing I could find is something called Cerebellar Ataxia… It fits his condition almost perfectly and it's the only thing that comes up when I type in his symptoms."

"Really?" Kendall asked curiously. "Well, what's it say?"

"See, it explains that the patient has what's called the 'drunken sailors gait.' It is very difficult for the patient to walk and talk or do any basic motor functions, such as write. Letters often become large and misshapen. Speech is slurred and hearing is impaired. The patient will also be very dizzy and experience vertigo and headaches…"

"Do you really think that's what Carlos has, Logan? Why does he have it, and can it be cured?"

Logan sighed. "I really don't know if this is right or not, Kendall. Some things just aren't adding up. Ataxia normally isn't accompanied with fever and his headaches are a lot more severe than described. And the cause of Ataxia can be anything from stroke, radiation poisoning, or even heavy drinking problems. Carlos hasn't been exposed to any of that. It can also be caused after a lesion in the brain but the MRI showed up clear… I'm so confused Kendall. It's like it could be Ataxia but something tells me it's not."

"Follow your gut, dude. If you think it's something else, keep searching._ Tomorrow_. Now, we are going to bed," Kendall said, closing the laptop. Logan protested, but Kendall shushed him.

"Go to sleep, buddy. We'll be no help to Carlos if we're dead tired, right?"

"Right," Logan agreed. Kendall turned off the dim bedside lamp and lied down beside Logan. He adjusted the covers so they were both covered snugly and threw an arm around Logan's small body protectively. Soon, they were both asleep.

An hour or so later, James awoke. His heart sped up nervously when he realized his bed was empty. Kendall was no longer next to him. With eyes half closed, he grabbed his blanket and shuffled half-asleep over to the next bed, where he settled down between Kendall and Logan's sleeping bodies. Content, James fell back asleep.

The next morning, Kendall was first to wake. As soon as his eyes opened he grabbed his cell off the bedside table and checked his texts. A message from Mrs. Knight was waiting for him, telling him that he and the boys could come see Carlos anytime.

With a burst of renewed energy, Kendall sat up from bed. He decided to let the boys sleep and grab a quick shower before waking them up by shaking them by the shoulders.

"Guys, quick, wake up."

"Mmmmfuhfmmmm," James grumbled into his pillow, swatting Kendall's hand away. Logan made a baby dinosaur noise and smacked his lips.

"Mama said we can see Carlos," Kendall said.

That was all James and Logan needed to snap awake and stumble out of bed. Disorientated, they grabbed their clothing from yesterday off the floor and dressed in the wrinkly garments haphazardly. Logan's shirt was on the wrong way and Kendall adjusted it for him.

"Did she say how Carlos is doing?" Logan asked. "How is his fever and headache?"

"Is he even awake?" James wondered. "Does she know what's wrong with him yet?"

"Guys, hush. I don't know anything right now," Kendall said, tossing them each a granola bar for the ride to the hospital. He offered them a half smile. "But, she said we can come see him, so that means he must be ok right?"

"Right," James said.

"For now," Logan added. James elbowed him in the ribs.

The boys quickly stampeded through the hotel and drove as quickly as they could through London traffic. Kendall wasn't exactly a good driver on London roads, and he nearly got them in an accident a couple times if it hadn't been for Logan grabbing the wheel.

"Well at least we made it here alive," James grumbled when they arrived to the hospital.

"Shut up," Kendall shot back defensively.

The trio made their way to the front desk, where Kendall anxiously asked for Carlos Garcia and Mrs. Knight. The nice nurse lady, Kendall hadn't paid attention to her name, directed the worried boys to the third floor.

They got lost a couple of times, but finally they made it to Carlos' room. James swung open the door and it banged against the wall loudly, startling Mrs. Knight, who was half asleep in an uncomfortable looking chair at Carlos' bedside.

"Carlitos!" James cried. The three boys rushed the bed, but Mrs. Knight held out her hand to stop them.

"Boys, boys!" She scolded in a shushed voice. "The poor boy is sleeping."

"Sorry Mrs. K," James said shyly.

"Mom! Is he ok?" Kendall asked, hugging his mother tightly. She squeezed him and gave his fair hair tons of light kisses.

"He's resting right now hon," Mrs. Knight explained, releasing her son so she could go to Logan and hold him for a while. He blushed pink, but accepted her cuddles gratefully. "I was up with him all night. He had a very long night, lots of tests and medicine. When he finally did sleep he had a cluster of nightmares and woke up sweating and crying. He's really only been sleeping solidly for a couple of hours."

Kendall frowned in sympathy. He placed his hand on Carlos' forehead to feel for fever. "He still feels warm mom…"

"I know, they gave him something for the fever and headache a few hours ago. His temperature had shot up to 101 but now it's back down to 99. The doctors say his fever isn't too high to worry about. But they're very concerned about how he can hardly walk and how lethargic he is, and of course his headaches, dizziness, and lack of balance."

"But they have no clue what's causing him to act this way?" Kendall asked.

"No, not yet. They'll be performing more tests on him once he wakes up. For now, he needs his rest."

Suddenly, there was a scratchy rustle of blankets. The boys and Mrs. Knight looked over to the small hospital bed to see two dark brown eyes peering sleepily but curiously at them, blinking heavily.

"G-g-guys?" He stuttered out, then cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes. A goofy smile stretched on his pale, chubby cheeks and every heart in the room felt lighter.

"Carlos!" Kendall, James and Logan exclaimed. Carlos held his arms out and they hugged him tightly and kissed his dark, fluffy tufts of hair affectionately.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing awake?" Mrs. Knight asked, stroking his hair off his forehead. Carlos shrugged.

"I-I heard you," Carlos said. But his words were odd. Not only had he stuttered, but each syllable seemed heavy and drawn-out, and he had a difficult time processing what he was trying to say. Carlos' cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment, but his eyes reflected fear. Logan's heart skipped a beat. The way he was speaking was definitely a sign of Ataxia… But why would he have such a disease? What was causing Carlos these symptoms?

"J-James?" Carlos stuttered softly. James glanced over to Logan.

"Why does his voice sound so different?" James whispered.

"I don't know," Logan whispered back.

The grin was quickly wiped from Carlos' cheeks, replaced by a trembling frown. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears. He looked to his surrogate mother for help. She looked just as shocked and scared as his friends did though. Suddenly, Carlos wanted his mother worse than ever.

"I have to use the bathroom," Carlos stuttered out in his new, slow way of speech. He threw off his blankets and tried to get up, but nearly fell over with dizziness. His legs wobbled dangerously like they had at the dress rehearsal that night.

"Carlos! Maybe you should lie down," James said, catching his dizzy friend just in time. Carlos just shrugged him away and used the bedframe for support. James looked hurt, but Carlos was humiliated. He felt like his friends were staring at him as if he were a freak. He could barely even talk and his voice sounded funny! He didn't want to use his voice again, so Carlos just shook his head and shakily headed for the bathroom. James assisted him on the short walk. If he hadn't, Carlos would have fallen over.

Once he was in the bathroom, Carlos shut the door and slid down the wall. The tile floor was freezing on his legs, which were only half covered by his thin hospital gown. He felt very cold and lonely.

Carlos ignored the knocking on the door after a few moments passed. His friends were asking if he was alright, but he just held his head in his hands and cried softly.

_What's wrong with me?_ He thought to himself. _I feel so weak and tired and woozy. I can't talk or walk. My head hurts all the time… I want my mommy and papa…."_

Carlos whimpered and cried out for his mother and father.

"He's freaking out in there," James said anxiously.

"I'll get him," Logan said. "Just stay out here, guys. He's probably just overwhelmed. I'll calm him down."

James and Kendall nodded. Logan was best at getting others to calm down. He was nurturing and gentle and just knew what to say like that. Logan opened the bathroom door just enough to fit through, closed it, and sat next to Carlos. He touched Carlos' arm. The Latino flinched away.

"Carlos, are you ok buddy?"

Naturally, Carlos shook his head, because he was _far_ from okay. How could he be okay, when all this crazy stuff was happening to him?

"Mommy," he said softly. Logan nodded in understanding and ran his fingers through the soft hairs on the nape of Carlos' neck. The smaller boy leaned into Logan and curled up against his side.

"It's alright, buddy. We'll call your mom and dad, ok? We'll get you home."

"Wh-what's wrong with me?" Carlos slurred. Logan winced and buried his voice in Carlos' hair, which smelled comfortingly like strawberries with a hint of mint. Logan couldn't remember a time that Carlos' hair didn't smell like that. It physically hurt him to hear Carlos' voice so slow and unsteady.

"You're sick, buddy. And the doctors are going to do some tests today to figure it out, because we don't know why you don't feel good."

"No, no tests… I want to go home," Carlos pleaded, holding onto Logan's arm.

"The doctors have to find out why you're sick first, ok? And then we can go home, I promise. We'll all go home to LA."

Carlos sniffled. Logan could feel hot tears leaking onto his arm. He rocked Carlos gently.

"I-I'm scared, Logie," Carlos said.

Logan swallowed hard and took a deep, shaky breath. "No, 'Litos, don't be scared, ok? Because everything's going to be alright. And Me, James and Kendall are right here for you. We're not going to let a thing happen to you. Ok?"

Carlos' tiny body shuddered with a sob, and his head gave a short nod. Logan gave him a reassuring squeeze and called in James and Kendall to carry Carlos to bed.

"Get some more sleep little bro," Kendall said, tucking Carlos into bed. His eyes, which were red from crying, already drooped sleepily. "We'll be right here when you wake up."

Mere seconds later, Carlos was fast asleep.

"Is he alright?" Mrs. Knight asked Logan.

"He wants his mother," Logan said. "He's scared and wants to go home. He's not alright, but he's not so freaked anymore."

"Thanks for doing that, sweetheart," Mrs. Knight said, giving Logan a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to call Carlos' parents and grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria. Stay with Carlos, ok?"

The boys didn't have to be told twice.

"Ok mom. We won't leave Carlos for even a second," Kendall promised. Mrs. Knight left, and James lied down beside Carlos, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. They anxiously waited for Carlos to wake up so they could finally find out what was wrong with him.

**A/N Next chapter, Carlos gets a diagnosis. BUT, will it be the correct diagnosis or not? Something tells me only Logan will figure out what's really wrong… Thanks for reading I hope you liked the double update! Next chapter is close to finished so maybe I'll post it soon if you review, teehee!**


	12. Doctor Brightman

**A/N Guys, can I just say I am blown away by all the reviews I have been getting for my stories lately? You make me so happy omg :') **

**Hey so I'm thinking of starting a new story (duh I'm always thinking of starting new stories ugghhh) but I'm going to close up a couple first before I start posting it, but the new one is going to be kind of AU, like set in maybe a different era, Big Time Rush might not even exist, but basically it will be an abuse story and all four guys will be true to their characters and best friends and stuff, but it's really sad and kind of off the wall and different then everything I have ever written. I know that's not a lot of info, but what do you guys think? Will you give it a chance? I think it will be pretty good and extremely angsty… I actually can't wait to start it…**

**PS, I have also gotten lots of good guesses on what Carlos' disease might be! But none of them are even close. Lol. But really though I have some unique ones so yayyy. Ya'll are smarticle.**

When Carlos woke up, he was immediately dragged off to a physical therapy room to have a bunch of tests done. Kendall, James and Logan were all there when he awoke, and they could see the sheer fear in his eyes while the doctor explained to him about what the tests would consist of, even though Logan could tell by the lost look on his face that Carlos didn't comprehend any of it. The Latino had never had tests performed on his before. In fact, he hadn't ever been really sick much in his life outside of minor colds. Logan knew anyone could get sick no matter how healthy he was, but it still baffled him that Carlos was this sick. Carlos just didn't deserve it. It wasn't fair.

The worst part was that suddenly, Carlos decided he didn't want to speak. Whenever they asked him a question, whether it be the doctors or the boys, he would turn a bright red and cast his huge, scared eyes downwards, shrugging shyly. This alarmed the boys greatly, but they decided they would coax Carlos into talking when he was feeling more comfortable and the doctors were out of the room.

After eating a few bites of jello (Carlos refused to each much more than that, and he wouldn't tell anybody if his stomach was hurting him or not) James helped him into a wheelchair and his doctor, whose name was Dr. Brightman (his name fit him well, he had a big smile and silvery-gray hair) went to wheel him away.

But the Latino suddenly cried out and grabbed hold of Logan's jacket, fisting the fabric tightly in his hands and looking up at his friend with pleading eyes.

"You want me to come with you?" Logan asked. Carlos nodded eagerly. Logan glanced at his doctor, who, after considering it for a moment, decided to allow one friend to stay with Carlos during the tests.

Mostly the tests were physical to gage his coordination. Carlos was clearly exhausted, even after his nap, but they forced him to perform each task that they set up for him.

To a normal, healthy human, the tests would have been easy and somewhat tedious. They made him touch his finger to his nose and reach out to touch a certain spot on the wall. Carlos could not do either. He looked at Logan, frightened, because he knew he was supposed to be able to do these things, but he couldn't no matter how much he tried.

"It's ok Carlos," Logan assured him, rubbing his back. The young doctor in training noticed Carlos' doctor scribbling something on his clipboard. Logan curiously looked over his shoulder and read the words quickly.

"_Showing signs of dysmetria and intention tremors. Reaches to touch intended targets and undershoots by several inches. "_

Logan committed the words to his memory. He wanted to know precisely what was going on with Carlos. He knew that dysmetria was the inability to judge distances.

They did several more odd tests and Logan carefully read over each one that the doctor wrote down.

When Carlos failed to stand up straight with his feet together (he was extremely wobbly and held onto Logan for support) the doctor scribbled down "_negative rombergs test."_

After the next test he scribbled down "_Exhibiting rebound phenomenon, loss of check reflexes." _Logan realized Carlos was failing every test, but it also seemed very familiar to what he read earlier. They were testing him for Ataxia.

"Carlos, I need you to do something for me," the middle-aged doctor told the young boy. Carlos looked up shyly. His cheeks were red and he was obviously humiliated by the series of tests he was given. He wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. "I need you to talk to me, so I can properly diagnose you, ok?"

Carlos shook his head. He didn't feel like talking, he didn't want anybody to hear him! It wasn't his usual, cute stutter. He sounded like he had some sort of brain damage, and that scared him.

"Come on Carlos, the sooner you do what he says, the sooner we can go see James and Kendall," Logan said, trying to bribe Carlos. But the sick boy refused. He kept his mouth shut tight in a thin line.

"Carlitos, please. It will be ok. Just say something, anything," Logan pleaded. He had a sour feeling in his stomach about this. Carlos was always to talkative, you usually couldn't get him to shut up. He never acted like this before. "Carlos, what's wrong?"

Carlos squeezed his eyes shut and his fingers clutched the sheets of the bed he was sitting on. He wanted to be done now. He wanted to go home.

"Do you know why he might be acting like this?" Dr. Brightman asked Logan. Logan shrugged, running his fingertips along Carlos' spine to relax him.

"I-I don't know, Doctor. You don't think he's in pain, is he?" Logan asked worriedly.

"I think he's definitely had enough for now," the doctor said. "But do you know why he won't speak to me?"

"Um, earlier he was having difficulties speaking. His voice sounded really weird and distorted, he was slurring a lot too. What do you think that means?"

The doctor quickly scratched some words onto his clipboard. Logan peered at his writing to find "_Dysarthia" _written on there.

"You're a very curious boy, aren't you?" the doctor asked in his thick English accent. Logan gulped and turned beet red, the blush reaching his ears. He knew he wasn't supposed to be reading that. But the doctor just chuckled.

"It's ok, you're worried about your friend, I understand."

Logan nodded. "I want to be a doctor one day. I was trying to research what Carlos might have, but I couldn't find anything specific that matched his symptoms. All I could find was Ataxia, which could be caused by anything. I mean why else would he have Ataxia, right? It didn't just suddenly appear, did it?"

"Well, it could be just Ataxia, he tested positive for it. We couldn't find anything on his MRI," the doctor said, amused by the young boy's questions. He was very smart for his age.

Logan could hear the doubt in the doctor's voice. "You think it could be something else, can't you Dr. Brightman?"

"Right now, it could be anything," the doctor said, but he seemed unsure. "I think I'm going to have a talk with his guardian, Mrs. Knight, about sending him home as soon as possible for additional testing."

Carlos suddenly coughed a little, earning concerned gazes from the doctor and Logan. He smiled shyly, and they realized he was just letting them know that he was still in the room and could hear everything they said.

"Sorry buddy," Logan said.

"We'll let you get back to your room now," Dr. Brightman said, helping the unsteady boy get back into his wheelchair. Logan wheeled him off, and the doctor walked them to Carlos' room. Logan wheeled him inside. James and Kendall stood up and started an onslaught of questions.

"Hold on a sec, stay with 'Litos," Logan said, exiting the room and shutting the door. His red sneakers squeaked noisily as he ran after Dr. Brightman on the linoleum flooring.

"Wait, Dr.!"

The older gentleman turned around to see what the ruckus was. "Logan?"

"Sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to ask some questions about Carlos."

"I'm sorry young man, but right now I can't disclose any information with-"

"I've been wracking my brain for answers to what might be wrong with Carlos, because I know it can't just be Ataxia. Something is seriously wrong with him, I know that kid like that back of my hand and he's really sick right now," Logan babbled. He usually would never interrupt an adult, he was too polite do to something like that, but he had a lot on his mind and was desperate for the doctor to listen to him. Surprisingly though, the doctor wasn't angry with him and let the boy speak. Logan continued on when the doctor looked fully intent on listening to him.

"I think he might have Miller-Fisher syndrome, or Guillien-Barre syndrome. I think he should be tested for it."

"Guillien-Barre or Miller-fisher? Isn't that a bit far-fetched, little one?"

"Maybe, but he could have it, right? Can you test him?"

Doctor Brightman gave the younger boy and small smile. "I'm going to be sending Carlos home in the morning to a neurological specialist who lives in California. He'll be able to do more for him then I can."

Logan sighed. It was times like these he wished he was a doctor with his very own clinic, so he could find out what was making Carlos so sick and figure it out himself.

"Is there anything else, Logan?" The kind doctor asked, knowing full well that Logan still had much on his mind.

"Y-yeah," he said softly. "Do you think… Is… Will Carlos be ok? Whatever this is, Ataxia or anything else, will he get better?"

"I don't think that's up to us," Doctor Brightman said. "That's up to Carlos and the man upstairs. But I think if he has friends like yourself, he'll be alright."

Logan couldn't bring himself to smile at the man. He was too worried. "I know you know something is wrong with him, Dr. Please tell me. I can't wait any longer. It's literally killing me that I can't help him or figure out what's wrong with him. I've been spending my whole life training to be a doctor and now that one of my best friend's is really sick, I can't do anything and he's just suffering and-" Logan felt two strong hands on his shoulders and looked up to see a pair of caring, blue-gray eyes staring at him. His heart was racing and he realized he had been babbling uncontrollably. His cheeks flushed at his behavior. He had never just poured his heart out to somebody before like that, especially to a stranger. But there was something about this man that was just comforting, and he actually _listened _to Logan. Nobody had ever really listened to him before that who wasn't James, Carlos or Kendall.

"I-I'm sorry," Logan said, sounding like a little kid. The doctor just smiled.

"Don't apologize, Logan. It's ok. Calm down. This is just the start of a journey to finding out what's wrong with Carlos. All I have now our guesses. We can't be sure what's afflicting your friend yet. You're doing the best you can to help him and that's all we can ask for. Don't stop researching, don't be afraid to speak up when you think you know the answer. Doctors are just people too and sometimes we make mistakes. I encourage you to keep looking for answers because I know you're smart enough to help your friend. He'll be ok, Logan."

Logan let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. Doctor Brightman had made him feel a bit better, but he still wanted to know one thing. "Thanks Dr. Can I ask you a question though?" Doctor Brightman nodded. "If you had to diagnose Carlos with something, what would you say he has?"

"I didn't want to say anything to you kids, but I see you're mature enough to know. I'm obviously not sure, and that's why I'm sending him to a specialist, but judging by the tests the most likely diagnosis is MS."

"MS? You mean Multiple Sclerosis?" Logan asked in a shaky voice. Suddenly he felt a bit lightheaded. His Carlos, could have Multiple Sclerosis?

"That's what we first thought when he came here and these tests only prove my theory but I can't know for sure. I'm like you, Logan. I'm a doctor who trusts his gut and something is telling me it could be more. That's why I'm sending him back to the United States, that's why I'm telling you not to give up researching. I can't do any more, but you can Logan. Nobody knows him better then you, you guys seem closer than brothers."

Logan swallowed dryly. What if Doctor Blightman was right, what if he did have Multiple Sclerosis? What the hell were they going to do?

"Logan? Are you alright?" Doctor Blightman asked. "You look ready to faint."

"I'm fine," Logan whispered. "Just a bit scared is all."

Doctor Brightman nodded. "Use that fear for your brother and turn it around to help him. I'm going to tell your guardian that Carlos will be released and sent home to America by morning."

Logan thanked the doctor for his time and headed sullenly back to Carlos' room. He closed the door and offered a small smile to James and Kendall, who were curled up, sandwiching a sleeping Carlos.

"Hey, you ok?" James asked, immediately going up to his pale friend. Logan stood on shaky knees and tears rimmed his red eyes.

"Logie?" Kendall asked. "What wrong?"

Logan's mind was buzzing. He kept hearing those two words over and over again, Multiple Sclerosis. His brother could either have it, or he didn't have it. If he didn't, what else could be hiding inside Carlos, wreaking such havoc on the young boy?

"Logie?" Kendall said again. His voice sounded far away to Logan. The brunet wavered slightly, feeling faint, just as the doctor had said. "He looks exhausted, James. Bring him over to the bed."

Logan felt James' large hand wrap around his wrist and lead him over to where Carlos and Kendall lay. Kendall frowned and pulled Logan down onto the bed.

"Logan, tell us what happened?"

Logan just shook his head. He was afraid if he spoke, all that came out would be sobs. Tears were already streaming down his cheeks. So instead, Logan buried his face in Kendall's chest and silently cried while his sick friend slept.

"Kendall?" James whispered, concerned. Kendall just shrugged, baffled at his friends unusual behavior.

Logan couldn't believe this was happening. They were stopping their world tour to go home to test their little brother for Multiple Sclerosis. How does something like that happen? One day they were on top of the world. Nothing could touch them, or so they thought. And now suddenly Carlos' precious, innocent body was waging some kind of mysterious war on himself.

"Logan, buddy calm down, it will be ok," Kendall said sweetly, wrapping his arms around the shaking boy. Logan could always trust Kendall when he said it would be ok, because Kendall always just _knew._ But this was the first time that Logan didn't believe his older brother.

**A/N Enhhh I really don't like this chapter, I hate writing hospital scenes but basically I needed to establish a relationship between the doctor and Logan because they'll need each other later on in the story. I also really want Logan's feelings to be apparent in this story. Who thinks that Carlos does have MS, or something else? I'm not telling 'til next chapter. Teehee. Please review! And let me know what you think about that story idea I wrote about in the beginning A/N. Love you guys! Also sorry for typos if there are any, I have to get to work and can't proof read today :/**


	13. Still a Mystery

**A/N Wow you guys I am so sorry I haven't updated this in forever… You know me… :/ um too anybody who will even bother reading this, thank you soo much!**

It had been 5 days since Big Time Rush had arrived home from England. 5 days since their world tour was officially cancelled and the band was put on hiatus. They were home in Minnesota now. Kendall, Mrs. Knight and Katie were staying at Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's home while Logan was to stay home with the Mitchells and James was back living with his dad.

However, Logan and James didn't spend much time at their homes. They were at Carlos' house day and night, staying with him, trying to cheer him up with his favorite movies and comic books. The simple things that used to put the brightest smile on his face no longer worked like they used to. Carlos was solemn and scared now. The worst part was, he refused to say a word. He lived in his own silent little world. Sometimes, tears could be seen rolling down his cheeks as he cried for everything he lost, but he never dared make a sob, and when one of the boys saw him crying, he would quickly dry his tears. It was hard for Kendall, James and Logan to get used to this Carlos. His mother and father were in tears every night because of his condition.

It was a dreary afternoon, rain splattered against the windows and heavy winds shook the house harshly. Carlos was asleep on the couch, teddy bear snug to his chest as a cartoon played quietly on the big screen television. Logan was stationed by the telephone, staring at the device anxiously. They were expecting a call today. Carlos had his MS test done a few days ago, and today they were scheduled to get the results. Whether the results were negative or positive, Logan's stomach still churned nervously either way. If he really did have MS, their lives would be changed forever. It was a life threatening illness. Logan couldn't even think about his little Carlos having MS without breaking down. But if the results were negative, how much would they go through before they could diagnose what was really wrong with the young boy? How many tests would his vulnerable body have to go through? How sick was he really? Would it be too late, by the time they diagnosed him? What if something much more sinister than MS was happening to Carlos?

Suddenly, the shrill ring of the telephone snapped Logan from his worrisome thoughts. He snatched the phone up mid-ring and pressed it to his ear.

"Logan Mitchell speaking," he said after taking a deep breath, pressing his eyes shut.

"Yes, this is Doctor Siva from Neurological Center of Minnesota. If Mr. or Mrs. Garcia there?"

"No sir, they are at the grocery store. Do you have the results of Carlos' MS tests now?" Logan asked.

"I do, but I need to speak to his p-"

"Please, I have been on edge waiting for this phone call," Logan said. "He's not a minor so legally you can release this information to me and Mr. and Mrs. Garcia are like my second parents, not to mention Carlos is like my own brother. Please, does he have MS?"

The doctor drew in a breath as he considered what he was about to say. He knew just by waiting on Carlos for the past 5 days that the group of boys were extremely close, as were their parents. "Carlos does not have MS, Logan. Now, I'll need to discuss further options about Carlos' condition with his parents. But the MS test was negative. There isn't a thing wrong with his spine."

Logan instantly felt numb as the doctor spoke to him. He had no idea what this could mean. Their last hope had come out negative. Was this a blessing, or were they in for more than they ever thought now that they knew Carlos did not have MS? What else could be wrong with him?

Just as Logan was about to speak, the front door of the Garcia home opened and in rushed Carlos' parents, trying to get in as quickly as possible from the rain. They froze when they saw Logan in the kitchen, mouth agape and small features pale as a sheet with the phone pressed to his ear.

"Honey?" Mrs. Garcia asked him in a hushed voice. "Is that…?"

Logan nodded and handed the phone to Carlos' mom. She pressed the receiver to her chest and patted the boy's cheek.

"Go tend to Carlos, dear. I'll be in as soon as I am off the phone with the doctor."

Logan nodded and ran off to the living room. Carlos was still huddled beneath a throw blanket, drool dripping from his open mouth as he slept. Logan lied down next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, squeezing his eyes shut as tears began to prickle at his eyelids. He quietly sobbed like this with Carlos, who was oblivious to everything, nestled in his arms.

Several minutes later, Logan opened his eyes to find Mr. and Mrs. Garcia flooding into the room along with Kendall and James. The boys looked confused as the adults looked solemn. Logan sat up and looked at James and Kendall questioningly. The older boys didn't say a word, just sat next to the pale boy, sandwiching him between their muscular bodies. Carlos' parents sat down on the large lazy chair across from where the children sat, their arms around each other.

"Kendall, will you please wake Carlos?" Mrs. Garcia asked. Kendall gave a nod and scooped Carlos up, leaning him against his chest and shaking him slightly. Carlos moaned and slowly blinked open his eyes. His mother smiled fondly at him and he managed a weak smile back, leaning against James weakly. He was feeling his best, but the room had a serious air and his friends looked nervous and disheveled. He stared at his mom, wondering what could be the matter, though he knew whatever had them so distressed most likely had something to do with him.

"Honey, your doctor called us today," Mrs. Garcia started. "Your test came back negative, you do not have MS. He thinks that you have a form of Ataxia that could be passed down through genetics. Sometimes, Ataxia symptoms don't even make themselves present for years, even almost a lifetime, before they begin to show. This isn't the first case they've seen before. Dr. Siva wants to start you on physical therapy right away."

"Is Carlos going to be okay?" James asked, reaching over to squeeze Carlos' hand. He watched the younger boy's face for any reaction to this news, but his features stayed stony. "Isn't Ataxia like… A brain disease? I mean, can they get rid of it?"

"There isn't a cure, no," Mr. Garcia said. "But physical therapy with slow the degeneration. This kind of Ataxia has no cure. But with help, Carlos' speech should come back soon and he should be able to fully walk again. We just need to give it time. Um, Silvia and I need to discuss options so I want all you boys to go on upstairs and take a nap, you look exhausted. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours." Carlos' father dismissed the 4 shell-shocked boys before any further questions could be asked. James, Kendall and Logan got to their feet and helped Carlos up and assisted him in walking, since he was unable to walk by himself any longer.

The four boys arrived in Carlos' room and laid him out on his bed. James covered him with his race-car comforter and rubbed his back. "You alright there, buddy?" He asked gently. Carlos sniffled and shook his head, rubbing his temples. James knew what this meant, he was feeling dizzy and his head was hurting him. James poured out a pill from a bottle on his bedside table and gave him a bottle of water. Dr. Siva had prescribed Carlos pain medication for his persistent headaches and he took up to four doses a day to numb the pain a little. Carlos took the medicine and settled down on his pillow, closing his eyes to block out the world, since he knew his friends would be talking about him, and he hated that.

However, to his surprise, they stayed quiet and lied down next to him, getting under the covers. It was a bit of a squeeze, but all four teenagers were positioned in the full-sized bed, ready for their naps. They didn't want to think about what these new revelations in Carlos' health mystery meant. They didn't want to think about the fact that Carlos could possibly be sick for the rest of his life. So, they drifted off all together into their own dream world, escaping the fear and misery of their reality if only for a little bit.

**A/N Okay I know that was short but I am trying to get back into the swing of this story so I can finish it because I really want to! So hopefully this was okay until I can get the next chap out! By the way, Carlos' disease is STILL a mystery! Really it won't be revealed until Logan figures out what is really going on! Please review? Xoxoxoxo I love you guys!**


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